Ingredients
5 whole cloves
1 whole nutmeg, slightly crushed in a mortar and pestle
6-8 red Holland chiles, or 3-4 Thai chiles, stemmed and roughly chopped
6 small shallots, roughly chopped
5 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 2" piece fresh or frozen turmeric, peeled and roughly chopped, or 1 ½ tsp. ground turmeric
1 2" piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
1 2" piece galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
2 lb. boneless beef chuck, cut into 2" pieces
7 fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves, plus 4 very thinly sliced, for garnish
3 stalks lemongrass, trimmed, smashed with a mallet, and tied into knots
2 sticks cinnamon
2½ cups unsweetened coconut milk
Kosher salt, to taste
Preparation
Pulse cloves and nutmeg in a food processor until very fine. Add chiles, shallots, nuts, garlic, turmeric, ginger, and galangal; purée until a slightly smooth paste forms, about 2 minutes. Transfer paste to a 12" nonstick skillet with beef; using your hands, mix together.
Add 7 lime leaves, lemongrass knots, cinnamon, coconut milk, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally to prevent coconut milk from scorching, until the consistency of thick pea soup, about 1½ hours. Continue to cook, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until sauce and beef turn a dark caramel color and the sauce coats the beef, 2½-3 hours. Discard whole spices before serving; garnish with thinly sliced lime leaves.
