Step 1

Put the kettle on, about half full.Dried Chillies. Cut the dried red chillies in 2-3 pieces, depending on their lengths, and soak them in a bowl of hot water for 20 minutes. In the meantime, get all the other ingredients ready.After 20 minutes, drain and rinse the chillies, and losing the seeds, if you like. Place them aside.

Step 2

Tamarind. Place the tamarind pulp (if using) into a bowl, and top with 125 ml (½ cup) of hot water from the kettle. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, no need to cover.

Step 3

At the end of 10 minutes, mash it all up with your fingers and fish out all the fibrous pulp and bits of shell, as much as you can.I prefer not to strain the tamarind juice, as you'll miss out on all the flavour if you do. The odd bit of pulp is perfectly fine.

Step 4

Roll your turmeric leaves up and either using a knife or a pair of scissors, cut them up into thin shreds.If using lime leaves, just tear the leaves up.

Step 5

Shake your coconut can up to mix the fat and liquid into 1 homogenous mixture.Tip the desiccated coconut into a small frying pan, along with 1 Tbsp of the coconut milk. Cook on low for 2-3 minutes, tossing the flakes until they are dry and a deep golden brown colour.Err on the side of caution and take it off before they get too brown, as towards the end, they can burn pretty quickly.

Step 6

Tip it out onto a plate or your mortar. This will stop the kerisik from burning in the hot pan.Leave to cool for 5 minutes, then pound to a semi-coarse grind.

Step 7

Place your lemongrass, galangal, ginger and garlic and chop for 20 seconds.Add the chillies and chop again for 20 seconds.Now add the onions and blend everything to a fine paste.

Step 8

Finally add the ground turmeric and coriander and blend in.

Step 9

Heat the oil on medium and fry the star anise, cinnamon and cardamom for 20 seconds.

Step 10

Add the bruised lemongrass and spice paste and fry for 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Because we're only using 4 Tbsp of oil, it will start to get dry half way through. Just turn the heat down to medium-low and stir to stop it from burning.

Step 11

At the end of 5 minutes, tip in the chicken pieces and coat them well with the spice paste. Stir and leave the chicken to cook for 1 minute.

Step 12

Add half the tamarind juice, coconut milk, water, turmeric leaves and kerisik, and bring everything to a simmer on medium heat. Give it a good stir.Cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes, stirring a few times in the last 15 minutes.If you're using bite-sized boneless chicken, then you only need 30 minutes.

Step 13

When it's done, check seasoning and add more salt if you think it needs it. And also more tamarind to your taste, if you fancy a little more tartness and depth.Just bear in mind, rendang is not a tangy curry, and you are not going for hot, sweet and tangy Thai flavours.Serve as suggested in the article.

Step 14

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