Such a cheat!

Even though I like to think of myself as someone who will cook most things from scratch, I am only human and have absolutely no qualms about occasionally using packet mixes as long as the ingredient list isn't too gruesome. I found this box mix for Beef Rendang (pictured below), in a shop I don't even remember as it's been in the cupboard for a while. Last night, feeling a little tired after making the panna cotta, I decided to give it a try. It has the added advantage of being economical as the meat required was cheap casserole beef just mixed with 2 of the sachets and left to cook for 1.5 hours.

The 3 sachets were a curry paste mix, (dry powder to be mixed with water), dried coconut milk powder to be mixed with water and toasted coconut to be added at the end. All the ingredients were natural, no additives, preservatives or MSG. In other words, I could identify everything in each packet!

The curry powder smelled really earthy, spicy and that sweet exotic fragrance that only comes from South East Asian cooking, (maybe the pungency of fermented shrimp paste). Once mixed with water it was stir fried for a few minutes in oil. The box stated 9 tbsp which I thought was an exorbitant amount, so I used 2 with no discernible effects.

The meat was stir fried in the curry paste until browned and then the coconut milk, (made from mixing the dried powder with water), was added slowly. The resulting curry smelled very appetizing and looked exactly how you imagine Beef Rendang to look. I let it cook slowly for 1.5 hours, but it probably would have benefited from another hour to render the beef really tender which I think is a must with this kind of cut.

The flavour was almost as good as a restaurant style Rendang, perhaps without the more subtle balance of sweet, sour and spicy. This sort of hit you over the head with sweetness and spice and lacked a little sourness. When I added the toasted coconut, however, the dish lost some of its appeal. There was so much of the coconut it gave the curry an unpleasant, bitty texture and an earthiness that Neil really didn't like. After his first fork full he identified this as a packet mix, stating that it had processed taste, a little like cardboard. Before adding the coconut, the curry was far better and I would buy this again and keep the coconut for something else. Then again, I think the real pleasure would be in making this from scratch. Watch this space....