About this recipe
A rich, mild curry of tender meat, potatoes and peanuts scented with warm spices — cardamom, cinnamon, star anise — that set it apart from other Thai curries. Massaman reflects Malay-Muslim culinary exchange in Thailand's South; the specifics of that history are logged rather than embellished. This is a home-kitchen draft.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4–6
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total
- 115 minutes
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Spice
- Mild
Allergens Contains peanuts, fish (fish sauce), shellfish (shrimp paste in most massaman pastes) and coconut. Gluten-free if the paste is gluten-free. To keep halal, use beef or chicken (no pork) and a fish-sauce/paste that suits.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
- 2 lb (900 g) beef chuck or chicken thigh, cut into 2-in (5 cm) pieces
- 1 can (13.5 oz / 400 ml) full-fat coconut milk, plus 1 cup (240 ml) more
- 4–5 tbsp (60–75 g) massaman curry paste (store-bought is fine; note shrimp paste content)
- 12 oz (340 g) waxy potatoes, in chunks
- 1 medium onion, in wedges
- 1/3 cup (45 g) roasted peanuts
- 3 tbsp (45 g) palm sugar
- 2–3 tbsp (30–45 ml) tamarind concentrate
- 2–3 tbsp (30–45 ml) fish sauce
- 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cardamom pods, 1 star anise, 2 bay leaves
Equipment
- Heavy pot or Dutch oven
- Knife & board
Method
- Simmer the thick coconut cream in the pot over medium heat until it thickens and the oil begins to separate.
- Add the massaman paste and whole spices; fry gently until deeply fragrant.
- Add the meat and turn to coat; brown lightly in the paste.
- Pour in the remaining coconut milk plus enough water to nearly cover. Simmer, partly covered, until the meat is tender — about 1 to 1.5 hours for beef, less for chicken.
- Add the potatoes, onion and peanuts; simmer until the potatoes are tender, 20–25 minutes.
- Season with palm sugar, tamarind and fish sauce to a gently sweet, sour and salty balance.
- Rest 10 minutes before serving; the flavor deepens.
Uses from this chapter
- Ajad (Thai Cucumber Relish) (Condiments — C24) — Massaman is self-seasoned, but a small bowl of cool, sweet-sour ajad is a common Thai accompaniment that cuts the richness. Served on the side, not stirred in.
From the foundations
The book pairs this recipe with the following, from the sauces, sambals and pastes that open the collection.
The Complete Edition
Massaman Curry sits in the Thailand chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Thailand chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.