Beef Massaman Curry
A very tender, melt in the mouth beef curry with a peanut crunch – delicious!
Serves 4-6
Prep time: 20-25 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients
For the curry paste
15 dried red chillies
1 tbsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1 stick cinnamon, ground
3 cloves, ground
4 peppercorns, ground
4 tbsp garlic, chopped
4 tbsp shallots, chopped
1 heaped tsp shrimp paste
1 - 2 sticks lemongrass, chopped
1 tsp galangal root, chopped
1 tsp fish sauce
For the curry
90g/3oz unsalted peanuts
400ml can coconut milk
4 tbsp massaman curry paste (if you prefer milder curries use 2-3 tbsp)
900g/2lbs stewing beef steak, cut into large chunks
450g/1 lb waxy potatoes , cut into 2.5cm chunks
1 onion, cut into thin wedges
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp palm or soft light brown sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced, to serve
jasmine rice, to serve
Method
1. Soak the chillies in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes and then deseed.
2. Dry fry all the spices in a large frying pan and then grind to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar or coffee grinder.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend into a fine paste. You only need 4 tbsp of the paste for the curry, the remainder you can store in the fridge for 2-3 months.
4. For the curry, heat the oven to 200°C/Gas mark 6 then toast the peanuts on a baking tray for 5 minutes in the oven. Now reduce the heat of the oven to 180°C/Gas mark 4. When the peanuts have cooled, roughly chop and set aside.
5. Heat 3 tbsp of coconut milk in a large casserole dish with a lid, add the curry paste and fry for 1 minute. Stir in the beef and cook until the meat is fully coated and sealed. Add the rest of the coconut milk and fill the can half full with water and add to the dish. Now add the potatoes, onion, lime leaves, cinnamon, tamarind, sugar, fish sauce and most of the peanuts. Stir until thoroughly combined and bring the dish to a simmer and then place in the oven. Cook for 2 hours until the beef is tender.
6. Serve with jasmine rice, sprinkle with peanuts and sliced chillies. Enjoy!