It was almost dinnertime. The kids had just woken from their afternoon nap after a busy morning at the park and were starting to get hungry. I was hungry! A bottom blade pot roast was sitting in my fridge. My intention was to make pressure cooker shredded beef with it using my stockpile of bone broth, but I spied a packet of coconut milk sitting in the pantry cabinet. That coconut milk immediately made me think of Rendang, but time was short and my AIP-approved spice list shorter. So what’s a gal with a limited spice list and craving for Rendang to do?
I decided to wing it and this was the outcome. Adding a plantain was a last minute decision as I had been saving it for something else but decided to use it in the curry. You know how sometimes we save a food ingredient for a ‘future use’ only to end up having it spoil on us? Okay, maybe you don’t but I have a tendency to do that! Anyhow, the plantain was mostly black and at the really ripe stage. If it were an eating banana instead of a cooking banana, it would have been only good for banana bread (or the compost…). But thankfully plantains are forgiving and it sliced easily and I slipped the chunks into the simmering curry. I’m really glad I used it!
The curry has a rich and thick gravy due to the use of the coconut milk, and the very ripe plantain lends a subtle honeyed note without any use of added sweeteners. It all comes together with an almost nutty and somewhat complex flavour, and the accompanying cassava couscous (Attiéké) helped to balance the richness of the dish. It can’t be called Rendang and I wouldn’t dare call it so lest the purists protest. Some substitutes leave one yearning even more for their original cravings but with this dish, I was utterly contented.
Ingredients (Serves 5-6)
For the marinade:
- 2 tsps coconut oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp ginger powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2lbs bottom blade pot roast, cut into 1.5 – 2 inch cubes
- 2 small onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tsp coconut oil
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 4 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 very ripe plantain (mostly black), sliced lengthwise and cut into 1 inch chunks
- Sea salt, to taste
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
Method (Using Instant Pot Pressure Cooker)
- In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, ginger powder, turmeric powder and sea salt with 2 tsps coconut oil. Marinate beef with spice mixture for about 1 hour. If you are short on time you can also marinate it right before cooking.
- Using the ‘Saute’ function of the Instant Pot, cook the onions in 3tsp coconut oil until translucent. Remove and set aside.
- Working in batches, brown the marinated meat in the pressure cooker pot until seared on all sides. Top up with extra oil if necessary. Set aside.
- Pour the coconut milk into the pot, stirring gently to remove any browned bits of meat stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add in the onions, browned meat, kaffir lime leaves and cinnamon stick.
- Cover the pot with the pressure cooker lid and set the valve to ‘sealing’. Cook for 35 minutes under ‘Manual’ setting.
- Once the cooking time is completed, press ‘cancel’ and allow the cooker to cool naturally until the pressure is released. You may speed up the pressure release duration by placing damp cool towels on the lid.
- Select the ‘Saute’ function and add in the plantain, stirring gently to mix. Add sea salt to taste. Let it simmer until the plantain is cooked and gravy thickened slightly. If the plantain is very ripe, it should not take more than 5 minutes.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and kaffir lime leaves. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve.
Method (Stove top)
- In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, ginger powder, turmeric powder and sea salt with 2 tsps coconut oil. Marinate beef with spice mixture for about 1 hour. If you are short on time you can also marinate it right before cooking.
- Heat up a pot or Dutch Oven over medium heat and add 3 tsp coconut oil. Cook the onions until translucent. Remove and set aside.
- Working in batches, brown the marinated meat until seared on all sides. Top up with extra oil if necessary. Set aside.
- Pour the coconut milk into the pot, stirring gently to remove any browned bits of meat stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add in the onions, browned meat, kaffir lime leaves and cinnamon stick.
- Bring to boil, then lower heat and allow to simmer with the lid on for about an hour. Uncover and continue simmering very gently for about 20 minutes or until beef chunks are tender, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the plantain, stirring gently to mix. Add sea salt to taste. Let it simmer until the plantain is cooked and gravy thickened slightly. If the plantain is very ripe, it should not take more than 5 minutes.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and kaffir lime leaves. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve.
This looks delicious! Can’t wait to try it.
Let me know if you do!
This is an amazing, flavourful recipe! And I will always have a soft spot for this recipe as it is the one that christened my Instant Pot. 😉 Thumbs up to you for such a delish dish.
So glad you enjoyed it Martine! Hope you’ll whip up loads of delicious meals with your Instant Pot 🙂
Yummers! I grew up in Indonesia, so miss Rendang!! I’ll have to hunt down Kaffir leaves, can that be found in the freezer section? Also I see you use a lot of bottom pot roast in your recipes? I think in the USA, meat cuts are labelled a little differently. I was thinking its either chuck steak here or could it be stew meat?
Yes, in fact I got mine from the freezer section of my local Asian supermarket! They keep for ages in the freezer, so no worries about using the whole pack up! You could use any stewing cut of meat, I would believe, but chuck steak should be good. I’m translating the closest equivalent cut as the cuts here in Quebec are a bit different. Hope that helps.
DORA! I made this tonight – it was utterly AHmazing! Thank you thank you thank you for creating such wonderful recipes!! I finally found attieke and am having it with this. Even DH loved it!
Ooh so happy that you enjoyed it! Thanks for your lovely comment!
What an interesting sounding dish! I’m also really interested to learn more about this cassava couscous. My husband loves boiled cassava, which I think is uninspiring, at best, so different ways to prepare it would be nice.
The couscous is totally different from boiled cassava, I was amazed at how similar it was in texture to semolina couscous the first time I tried it! I hope you can find it! If your husband loves boiled cassava, maybe he would enjoy this dish: http://www.provincialpaleo.com/cassava-garlic-onions-yuca-al-mojo/
I am excited to make this! I got all the ingredients, have my meat browned, and am assembling it for the next cooking phase now. And what do I just now realize? I wrote my shopping list wrong (or my program autocorrected…) and bought pork roast instead of pot roast! OH MY! Who buys pork for a beef recipe? *faceplam* I’m disappointed as I really wanted beef curry, but now I’ll just have to see how the recipe does with accidental pork instead.
Woops! I hope it turned out well with pork!
Could this be made with whole milk yogurt instead of coconut milk? It’s very difficult to find good coconut milk where I am. I’m not AIP.
If you’re not doing the AIP and tolerate dairy, I would think that whole milk yogurt will impart a tangy taste to the curry and would be just fine! Otherwise, you can try using evaporated milk as it is a commonly used substitute for coconut milk in curry recipes.