Easy recipes for any cook: from cheat's meals to cooking from scratch

Burger recipes

Sweet potato-and-red quinoa burgers with caramelised fennel and onion and dill aïoli

15 minutes

Asian recipes

Black rice with avocado and seared salmon

45 minutes

Christmas recipes

Roast duck breast with grapes and Hanepoot sauce

25 minutes

Asian recipes

Iced borscht with hot potatoes and sour cream

1 hour

Fruity dessert

Whole baked pears

40 minutes

Indonesian rendang with super-easy chickpea dosas

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 40 minutes

Cooking Time 3 hours

Ingredients

For the curry paste:

2 T coriander seeds, lightly toasted
¼ t peppercorns, lightly toasted
40 g desiccated coconut , lightly toasted
3 red chillies, roughly chopped
2 spring onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
30 g Woolworths Blue Elephant dried galangal, roughly chopped
1 x 6 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 stalk lemongrass , white part only, sliced
4 lime leaves, shredded
1 T coconut or palm sugar
2 T peanut oil

For the curry:

1 T peanut oil
1 kg free-range beef cubes
1½ cups curry paste (see above)
2 x 400 ml cans coconut milk
1½ cups water
2 T T fish sauce
6 lime leaves
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised
¼ cup lime juice

For the chickpea dosas:

150 g chickpea flour
100 g riceflour
½ t bicarbonate of soda
2 T ghee, melted, plus extra for frying
1 ¾ cup water
1 red onion, thinly sliced
Coriander, to garnish
1 lime, cut into wedges

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
To make the curry paste, grind the coriander seeds and peppercorns using a mortar and pestle. Place all the ingredients into a blender and process until a paste forms.
To make the curry, heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Brown the beef cubes in batches, then remove from the pan.
Reduce the heat slightly, add the curry paste and cook for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, water, fish sauce, limes leaves and lemongrass and bring to the boil.
Return the meat to the saucepan and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Cook in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for a further hour, turning the meat occasionally, or until the meat is tender and the sauce has reduced. Add the lime juice and stir to combine.
To make the chickpea dosas, mix all the ingredients to form a batter. Heat a large nonstick frying pan over a medium to high heat. Brush the pan with a little ghee and pour in ¼ cup batter to thinly coat the pan. Cook for 1–2 minutes on one side only. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
Garnish the curry with thinly sliced red onion, fresh coriander and a wedge of lime. Serve with the chickpea dosas.

Cook's note: Often served as a ceremonial dish in Indonesia, rendang is a drier style of curry, where, thanks to slow braising in coconut milk, the meat literally melts in your mouth (you could use lamb rather than beef). If you’re over rice, make your own south Indian dosa using chickpea flour – no fermenting of rice and lentils required. Genius.

Browse more Asian recipes here.

Spinach lasagne

Three-bean salad with kombucha dressing

Lentil, grilled brinjal and butternut salad with tahini dressing

Sweet potato-and-red quinoa burgers with caramelised fennel and onion and dill aïoli

Korean bo ssam (Thai larb)

Dutch pear pancake

Black rice with avocado and seared salmon

Roast duck breast with grapes and Hanepoot sauce

Char siu-style chicken wings

Iced borscht with hot potatoes and sour cream

Whole baked pears

Japanese tempura sweet potato

Pork escalope with apple kimchi

Parmesan-and-sesame rice with roast garlicky mushrooms

Indonesian rendang with super-easy chickpea dosas

Indonesian rendang with super-easy chickpea dosas

Ingredients

Method