In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the uncooked white rice and cook until toasted. Place the toasted rice in a blender with a milling blade (or a small food processor), turn on the appliance and pulse/blitz until rice is finely grounded. You can use a mortar and pestle to do this, but might take more time from you. Set this aside.

Using mortar and pestle (or food processor/blender), add palapa (or palapa substitute), fresh turmeric, lemongrass and chili. Pound everything together. Set this aside.

In a bowl, add the pieces of beef, the toasted and grounded rice and the spice mixture. Mix everything and let this marinate while we prepare the other ingredients.

In a skillet over medium high heat, add coconut meat and cook until toasted, while stirring frequently. This might take 10-20 minutes. Make sure to watch it closely as the coconut meat burns easily. When the coconut is toasted, add the this a food processor or a blender with the milling blade. Turn on the appliance and ground finely. Set this aside.

In a pot over medium-high heat, add about 2 tbsp of oil. Add the marinated pieces of beef and give it a good mix. Cover the pot for about 20 minutes, making sure to check and stir in between. You may notice that burnt spices, it’s okay as long as it doesn’t smell bad.

Now, it’s time to add the coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves. You can use bay leaves, according to Google, if you don’t have kaffir lime leaves. Cover the pot again and simmer over low heat for 1 & 1/2 hours to 2 hours or until meat is tender. Make sure to check and stir from time to time to prevent the meat from burning.

When the meat is cooked, heat another skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to the skillet and saute lemongrass, spring onions and chili - cook them for about 1 minute. Add the toasted coconut and zest of 1-2 limes. You can now add the cooked meat and cook for a few minutes. Don’t forget to add salt.

To serve, transfer the Beef Rendang to a plate. Garnish with more spring onions and chili. Serve with white rice.