Massaman Beef Curry
Recipes · Dinner · Recipe, Typed Supps
The mildest Thai curry and the only one with potatoes and peanuts in it, which is the Persian influence showing.
Allergens and patterns
Contains fish, peanuts.
Ingredients
- cubed (800g) Beef Chuck — A slow-cooking cut. Anything leaner is dry and stringy by the time the potatoes are done.
- 1 tin (400g) Coconut Milk — The first half is cracked in the pan until the oil separates, which is where the curry paste gets fried. This step is what most home versions miss.
- 4, quartered (400g) Potatoes — They go in for the last 25 minutes and thicken the sauce as their starch leaches out.
- a handful (60g) Peanuts — In the sauce and over the top. Texture, and the flavour that separates massaman from every other Thai curry.
- 4 tbsp (60g) Curry Paste — Massaman paste if you can find it. Fried in the coconut oil until it smells cooked rather than raw.
- 1 1/2 tbsp (25g) Fish Sauce — The salt. Thai curries are seasoned with this rather than with salt itself.
- 1 1/2 tbsp paste (25g) Tamarind — The sourness that balances the coconut fat. Lime is a poor substitute but better than nothing.
- 2, quartered (200g) Onions — In large pieces, so they survive the cook and stay recognisable.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories: 741.5 kcal
- Protein: 66.2g
- Carbohydrate: 32.4g
- of which sugars: 8.6g
- Fat: 36.5g
- of which saturated: 16.9g
- Fibre: 14g
- Sodium: 671mg
Method
- Simmer half the coconut milk in a wide pan until the oil separates out, then fry the paste in it for two minutes.
- Add the beef and turn it in the paste, then the rest of the coconut milk, tamarind, fish sauce and water to cover.
- Simmer gently, covered, for an hour.
- Add the potatoes, onions and half the peanuts and cook 25 minutes more. Scatter the rest of the peanuts over.
Nutrients it supplies
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