Chillied beef and cashew stew with coriander salsa

The much talked about stew recipe from one of my much-used cookbooks Peter Gordon Everyday (Harper Collins). Try it. You will love it — and find yourself a copy of the book, you'll love that too.

Ingredients

1 kg	Stewing beef, diced and trimmed of excess gristle (Main)
1 tsp	Smoked paprika, either sweet or spicy/piquant
1	Red chilli, sliced, use more or less to taste
2 Tbsp	Vegetable oil
300 g	Baby onions, peeled
12 cloves	Garlic, separated but unpeeled
200 g	Baby carrots, skins scrubbed and stalks removed
2 cans	Chopped tomatoes, 400g cans
6 sprigs	Fresh thyme
50 ml	Soy sauce
100 g	Cashew nuts, toasted
3	Spring onions, thinly sliced
1 handful	Fresh coriander, shredded
2 Tbsp	Lime juice
1	Lime, use 1 tsp of freshly grated zest
2 Tbsp	Extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Mix the beef with the smoked paprika, chilli and a little salt and put to one side.
2. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and add the onions, garlic and carrots. Cook over moderate heat to evenly colour the vegetables, stirring often.
3. Once done, remove with a slotted spoon but keep the oil in the pan.
4. Add the beef to the pan and brown all over.
5. Add the tomatoes, thyme and soy sauce, along with the cooked onions, garlic and carrots. Add enough hot water to cover the meat.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Put a lid on and cook either on the stove top or in the oven at 150C for 2½ hours, stirring the stew several times while it's cooking. If the cooking liquid begins to dry out, top it up with boiling water. After 1 hour's cooking stir in the cashews.
7. Mix the spring onions, coriander, lime juice and zest and olive oil together. To serve, ladle the stew into bowls and spoon on this salsa.