Massaman Curry with Beef

Thai is one of our favorite take out foods to order. We have been to many Thai restaurants over the years, and I judge them based on my favorite Thai dish–Massaman Curry. Sour, spicy, and a little sweet, Massaman has become a comfort food for me. The other week I was feeling a little under the weather, and kept craving this dish. Rather than order from our favorite Thai place, we decided to make our own instead.

Try to get your ingredients at an Asian market, since they will be much easier to find and much cheaper than a grocery store. I fully intended to just use store bought curry paste, but forgot to pick it up until a weekend night when all the Asian markets were closed, so I made my own. It isn’t much work, but is a lot of ingredients to make your own curry, so feel free to buy some to save some work.

I also think this recipe would adapt well to being a freezer and/or slow cooker meal. I haven’t tried it out yet, but plan to. I will update the recipe when I do!

Massaman Curry Paste

 

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Ingredients

• 10-12 dried red thai chilis, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes to soften
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon cardamon
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 whole star anise
• 1, 3-inch piece lemon grass, roughly chopped
• 2 large shallots, roughly chopped
• 1, 1-inch pice galangal (or ginger root)
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• ½ tablespoons fish sauce

Instructions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined and a thick paste is formed. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 month.

Notes

Source: Adapted from Lisa's Kitchen.

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Beef Massaman Curry

 

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Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of cubed chuck beef
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided
• ¼ cup massaman curry paste, store bought or homemade (see recipe below)
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole star anise
• 2 large shallots, peeled and sliced
• 2 cans of coconut milk
• ½ cup of beef broth
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 4 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• A handful of fresh Thai basil leaves
• ½ tablespoon tamarind paste
• 2-3 tablespoons of palm sugar or brown sugar (to taste)
• 6 tbs of unsalted, roasted peanuts

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, coat beef in 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil and the massaman curry paste. Stir well to coat the beef. Set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat remaining oil over a medium heat. Add cardamom, cinnamon, and star anise and cook for 1 minute. Add shallots and cook until slightly softened, a few minutes. Add in the beef and brown for about 2 minutes, stirring. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, and beef broth. Stir well, then bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to low, cover, and simmer gently for 2 hours.
3. After this time, add the remaining can of coconut milk, potatoes, peanuts and basil leaves. Stir well. Taste and add a little more fish sauce if necessary.Turn heat up to medium-low and cover. Cook for another 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
4. Once the potatoes are cooked, remove the curry from the heat. Stir in the sugar and tamarind juice. Stir well. Serve with Jasmine rice.

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