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Thai · Dinner

Thai coconut beef and potato curry (massaman)

Fork-tender beef and potatoes slowly braised in a mild coconut curry fragrant with warm spices, tamarind, palm sugar, and roasted peanuts.

About 3 hr 25 minTotal
About 3 hr 10 minActive
$$$Cost
AdvancedDifficulty
Makes 8 servings
Thai massaman curry with fork-tender beef, intact potatoes and onions, roasted peanuts, and a rich brown coconut sauce over jasmine rice.

Equipment

  • Use a hot sheet pan under an inverted oven-safe metal bowl for the covered phase.

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 8 servings

  • 3 pounds beef chuck, cut in 2-inch pieces
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
  • 2 13.5-ounce cans full-fat coconut milk, not shaken
  • 1/2 cup Thai massaman curry paste
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 green cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cups low-sodium beef or chicken stock
  • 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, cut in 2-inch pieces
  • 1 large yellow onion, cut in 8 wedges
  • 3 tablespoons fish sauce, plus more to taste
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped palm sugar or light brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons tamarind concentrate, plus more to taste
  • 3/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, divided
  • Cooked jasmine rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. Season beef with 1 teaspoon salt. Spoon 1 cup thick coconut cream from the cans into a and cook over medium-high heat 6 to 9 minutes until glossy and beginning to release oil. Stir in massaman paste, cinnamon, cardamom, and bay and cook 2 minutes until deeply fragrant.

  2. Add beef and turn it in the paste for 4 minutes. Pour in remaining coconut milk and stock, bring to a gentle simmer, and skim only excess surface foam. Partially cover and cook on low 75 minutes, stirring twice.

  3. Add potatoes, onion, half the peanuts, and remaining salt. Continue partially covered 40 to 55 minutes, until beef is fork-tender and potatoes are cooked through but retain their shape; add a little water only if solids rise above the braising liquid.

  4. Stir in fish sauce, palm sugar, and tamarind. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, then taste only after the seasonings dissolve: the curry should be mild and warmly spiced with a clear savory-sour counterweight to its sweetness. Adjust fish sauce or tamarind rather than automatically adding sugar.

  5. Remove whole spices as visible and rest 15 minutes so the sauce settles. Spoon over jasmine rice and scatter the remaining roasted peanuts on top for fresh crunch.

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