Recipe: Fragrant beef, peanut & makrut lime curry

This rich, nutty curry takes two hours to cook, but is well worth the wait.

It’s no secret that peanut butter makes an awesome curry.

It’s rich, creamy and packed full of nutty, toasty flavours — absolute winners when it comes to a comforting meal.

This curry uses crunchy peanut butter (because I simply love a good crunch — use smooth if you don’t), alongside a beautiful combination of aromatics, spices and makrut lime leaves. Makrut lime leaves (sometimes also known as kaffir lime leaves) add a sharp and fragrant flavour that I particularly love with peanuts.

You can buy them frozen in Asian supermarkets, and they can be used in sweet or savoury recipes.

Simply chop them and use them as you would any other herb — bearing in mind they are tough in texture and strong in flavour, so need to be chopped very finely and used sparingly.

This curry cooks for 2 hours, so the beef is super-tender and just falls apart.

Don’t skimp on the cooking time!

It’s a matter of leaving the curry to do its thing, so you can get other work done while it simmers away.

If you are allergic or simply not a fan of peanut butter, use almond butter or your favourite nut butter instead.

It’s an easy way to achieve a creamy, flavour-packed and nutritious sauce!

Fragrant Beef, Peanut & Makrut Lime Curry

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 700g stewing beef, cut into 3cm cubes
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 10g fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 large green chilli, seeds and membrane removed, chopped
• 5 makrut lime leaves (3g), chopped
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 150g crunchy peanut butter
• 1x400ml can coconut milk
• 1 small head broccoli (150-200g), cut into small florets
• 125g frozen cooked peas, defrosted
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a large saucepan over high heat. When hot, add beef in a single layer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7-8 minutes or until browned all over. Transfer beef to a bowl, keeping the juices in the pan.
2. Meanwhile, add onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, makrut lime leaves and coriander seeds to a mini food processor. Process until a chunky paste — you can use a spoonful of beef juices from the pan to help it along.
3. Add the paste to the beef juices in the pan and reduce heat slightly to medium-high. Cook for 3 minutes, then add turmeric and cumin and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Take care not to burn the spices.
4. Add the beef back into the pan along with ½ cup water. Allow the mixture to thicken, before adding peanut butter and stirring to incorporate. Add coconut milk and an additional 1½ cups water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a low and cover with a lid. Simmer for 45 minutes.
5. Add the broccoli, stir everything around, and put the lid back on. Cook for an additional hour, until beef and broccoli are tender.
6. Stir through peas, lemon juice, sugar and salt. Serve hot, with a dollop of yoghurt, fresh mint and chopped peanuts.

• Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography — in studio or on-location — for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Go to Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com

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