Beef rendang

Name: Beef rendang
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 2 h 30 min
Cuisine: Asian, Indian
Ingredients: 2 lemongrass stalks, dry outer leaves removed, roughly chopped; 3 medium-sized red onions, quartered; 6 garlic cloves, peeled; 25g/1oz fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped; 75g/2½oz chunk galangal, peeled and roughly chopped; 3 plump red chillies, roughly chopped without deseeding; 3 tbsp sunflower oil; 2 tsp ground cumin; 1 tbsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 1.5kg/3lb 5oz beef chuck steak (or any good braising beef), trimmed and cut into 3cm/1¼in cubes; 400ml/14fl oz can coconut milk; 4 fresh makrut lime leaves; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar or palm sugar; 2 tsp tamarind paste or freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime; 2 tbsp dark soy sauce; 2 tsp flaked sea salt, plus extra to season; ground black pepper; toasted coconut flakes, to serve (optional)