Massaman Beef Curry with Red Onion and Tamarind

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Whilst Massaman Beef Curry with Red Onion and Tamarind is a hugely popular classic Thai curry; it is actually a wonderful fusion of flavours from Thailand and India. It showcases all the classic Thai flavours and aromatics, such as lemongrass, galangal, fish paste, fish sauce and palm sugar, mixed with a range of traditional Indian spices, such as coriander, cumin, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. This heady combination totally sets this curry apart from other Thai and Indian curries – literally all my favourite flavours all cooked together in one fabulous, rich, complex yet mellow curry which is slightly sweet, yet with a hint of tang.

Massaman Curry Paste

Like most Thai curries, this curry is made using a paste. Unsurprisingly, if you make a good homemade curry paste, your Massaman will be much more flavourful than using a shop bought. The paste is easy to make but does require a range of ingredients, not all of which are common place in the the supermarket. However, I urge you to make it if at all possible! For recipe, see here.

Top tip – make a big batch and freeze it in portions ready to use. You will definitely want to make this again!

If you are buying the paste, try and get it from an Asian supermarket – their pastes are generally far superior to those found in your standard British supermarkets. I recommend with Mae Ploy or Maesri.

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Peanuts, Cashews or No Nuts??

Most, but not all, Massaman Curries include peanuts or cashew nuts in the curry. Personally, I only like nuts in a curry when they are crunchy. I am not mad about the texture of nuts cooked in a liquid for a long time, so I simply omit them. If you want to include nuts, I recommend:

• adding peanut or cashew butter to the curry sauce. This is the best of both worlds! It adds not just a wonderful flavour, but is also silky smooth
• sprinkling your finished dish with chopped roast peanuts or cashew nuts. This adds all the flavour and they still have a wonderful crunch.

Since so many people are allergic to nuts, I wanted a recipe which is wonderful either way. You could always make the curry without the nuts but sprinkle the nuts on for those who can eat them

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How to make Massaman Beef Curry with Red Onion and Tamarind

Collect all your ingredients together:

• vegetable, coconut oil or for extra spice, use Chilli Oil
• new potatoes
• vegetable or coconut oil
• braising steak, fat removed, in small cubes or slices
• red onions, peeled and chopped
• garlic, peeled and chopped
• coconut milk
• Massaman Curry Paste, homemade or shop bought
• smooth peanut butter, to taste
• palm sugar
• fish sauce
• tamarind paste

To serve:

• chopped coriander
• chopped peanuts
• coconut or steamed rice

How to make this wonderful, flavourful curry:

1. Make the curry: heat ½ tablespoon oil in a cast iron casserole over a moderately hot heat. Add half the beef and sear on all sides. Remove from the pan. If necessary add a little more oil and sear the remaining half of the beef. Return all the beef to the pan.
2. Finely chop the onion and garlic – I do this in a food processor.
3. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and just cover with water, ensuring all the ingredients are covered.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook for 2 hours. The beef should be falling apart.
5. Meanwhile cook the potatoes: toss the potatoes in ½ tablespoon oil on a baking tray. Cook in a preheated oven for 20 – 40 minutes until the skin has browned and the inside of the potato is soft. Cooking time will depend on the size of your potatoes.
6. Back to the beef: strain the stock from the beef.
7. Bring the stock to the boil and reduce to approximately 100ml.
8. Meanwhile, open 1 tin of coconut milk and spoon the coconut cream off the surface. This is likely to be about half the can. Put it into your cast iron casserole along with the Massaman Curry Paste. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring, for 2 minutes until fragrant.
9. Slice the roast potatoes into 5mm disks.
10. Return the beef and onions to the pan along with the peanut butter, (if using) palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, sliced roast potatoes and 1 whole tin of coconut milk.
11. Bring to the boil and add the reduced beef stock.
12. Ensure everything is piping hot and serve over plain or coconut rice garnished with chopped peanuts or cashews (if using) and some chopped coriander.
13. NB Use any remaining coconut milk/water when cooking your rice.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.