Thai Beef Coconut Curry Recipe

Gather the ingredients.

Place all curry paste ingredients (lemongrass, fresh chiles, garlic, ginger, shrimp paste, turmeric, ground coriander, brown sugar, ketchup, fish sauce, lime juice, and cardamom) in your food processor or blender. Add up to 1/4 can of the coconut milk to help blend ingredients. Blitz well and set aside.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl around, then add the onion rings. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, until they start to brown, then add the stock.

Reduce heat to medium and simmer until most of the stock has disappeared.

Using a slotted spoon, pick out half of the rings and reserve in a bowl for later. Leave the rest in the pan.

Turn heat back up to high or medium-high and add the beef plus a little more oil if necessary. Stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes until beef is browned. Add the sherry as you stir-fry, a little at a time, to keep ingredients sizzling and add additional flavor.

Add the curry paste plus most of the remaining coconut milk, reserving roughly 1/4 cup for later. Also, add the bay leaves. If using fresh pineapple, add it now as well (canned pineapple will be added later). Stir well and bring to a gentle boil.

Reduce heat to low. Cover and let the curry simmer 20 to 45 minutes, depending on how much time you have (the longer the beef simmers, the more tender it will be). Stir occasionally.

Add the tomatoes plus canned pineapple (if using in place of fresh). Simmer another 10 minutes, until tomatoes have softened.

Reduce heat to low and add remaining coconut milk plus reserved onion rings, gently stirring them in. Taste-test the curry for salt, spice, and sweetness, adding more fish sauce if not salty or flavorful enough, or more chile for more heat. If you'd like a sweeter curry, add a little more sugar. If too salty or sweet, add another tablespoon lime or lemon juice.

Top the curry with fresh coriander and serve with plenty of Thai jasmine rice.