Wipe and the chilies with a damp paper towel and then use scissors to open up the chiles and remove and discard the seeds and stems. Cut the chilies up into pieces and use a mortar and pestle to grind them into a powder along with the allspice. You can also use a spice grinder.

To make the curry paste, add the lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, shallot and coriander roots to the mortar and use a pestle to pound them into a paste. If you don't have a mortar and pestle, transfer the chili powder to a small food processor(if your food processor is too large there won't be enough mass to make this spin) and add the lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, shallot and coriander roots along with ¼ cup of water, and process until smooth.

Put the tamarind pulp in a small bowl and cover with ⅓ cup boiling water. Let this soak for 5 minutes and then stir to separate the pulp from the seeds. Strain this mixture to get about 3 tablespoons of tamarind juice.

Generously salt and pepper the beef. In a heavy bottomed pot such as a dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat until it's shimmering. Add the beef in a single layer. Let the beef brown undisturbed on one side (about 7 minutes) before flipping and browning the other side. Transfer the beef to a bowl.

Add the cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and cloves and fry until fragrant (1-2 minutes)

Add the curry paste to the pan and fry until it is caramelized and very fragrant (if you used a food processor and added water this will take a bit more time). Add the coconut milk, vegetable stock, fish sauce, coconut sugar and peanuts along with the tamarind juice and beef.

Bring to a simmer, and then cover and turn down the heat to low. Cook for 1 hour and then add the shallots and potatoes. Continue cooking until the beef is very tender and the potatoes are cooked through (another 30-45 minutes). Adjust salt and sugar to taste with more fish sauce and coconut sugar.