Indonesian Rendang Curry

This was sensational, warming for a cold night:

You'll need chicken bits (it can be done with beef) - breast or thighs, whatever takes your fancy.

For the sauce you need to bung in a magimix the following:
- roughly chopped shallots x 2
- two stalks of lemon grass roughly chopped
- four cloves of garlic
- one thumb sized piece of fresh ginger
- two red chillis (or more if you like more heat)
- can of coconut milk
- 4 tablespoons of tamarind paste
- two table spoons of dark soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons of nam pla (fish sauce)
- 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
- 1 heaped tablespoon of ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric
- I tablespoon dark brown sugar

Whizz this all up until you have a smooth sauce.

Transfer this into a casserole or wok together with two whole star anise. Add your chicken bits then simmer with the lid off, stirring well. If you do this with beef you'll need a longer cooking time, however you want the sauce to reduce until it clings to the meat but you have some sauce left to infuse with the jasmine rice (that you serve this with). The chicken took around 30 mins to cook and the sauce to thicken.