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Chicken Massaman Curry with tender chicken and potatoes, creamy coconut sauce and warming spices. A comforting homemade Thai-style curry. I make my own curry paste for this recipe, but I’ve included instructions on how to sub for shop-bought.
Nicky’s Notes
Chicken + baby potatoes + creamy coconutty spiced curry sauce?
Yep, that ticks a whole lot of my dinner cravings!
I make my Beef Massaman all the time, and it hit me recently that I didn’t have a chicken version on the site!
So I remedied that, using the same homemade massaman paste (unbelievably tasty! But don’t worry, you can swap for store-bought if you like) with chicken thigh pieces and those all-important baby-new potatoes.
Using chicken means it cooks faster (almost 2 hours faster), or you can sling it in the slow cooker if you want to prep earlier in the day and come back to it at dinner time.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for the curry paste
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
📋 Ingredients for the rest of the curry
Can I swap chicken thighs for chicken breast?
Yes of course. However, chicken breast is leaner and doesn’t really like being cooked for a long time.
So I would fry up the chicken breast first, until just cooked (step 3), then remove the chicken from the pan and continue on with the recipe.
Add the chicken back in for the final 15 minutes of cooking, when you take the lid off the curry.
This will help to ensure the chicken breast remains nice and juicy.
Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Blend the curry paste ingredients together. Season the chicken and fry, then add the curry paste and coat the chicken. Add stock, coconut milk and potatoes. Simmer for 30 mins, lid loosely on, then 15 mins lid off. Stir in lime juice and serve.
Recipe Tips
- If your sauce is too saucy, simmer for a little longer reduce it further.
- Use full-fat coconut milk for the creamiest sauce. Light coconut milk can work, but full-fat gives you that silky, rich Massaman sauce that clings beautifully to the chicken and potatoes.
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
Make ahead and Leftovers Guide
- Make ahead/Leftovers: Make the curry, then cool it quickly, place in an air tight container and refrigerate.
- It will keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days. I often find the sauce tastes even better the next day, once those lovely warm spices have had time to settle in.
- Reheat the curry in a saucepan over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until piping hot throughout.
- You can also reheat it in the microwave in a covered, microwave-safe container. Heat in bursts, stirring between each one, until piping hot all the way through.
- Freezing: Cool the curry completely, then portion into freezer-safe airtight containers (I like freezing it in individual portions – quicker defrost and you can pull out however many you need).
- Defrost overnight in the fridge, then reheat as above.
📺 Watch how to make it
Massaman Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
Massaman Paste – makes about 6 tbsp:
- 1 chopped red onion
- 3 mild red chillies roughly chopped (or use fewer chillies, depending on how hot you like it) – I use Fresno chillies
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 tsp lemongrass paste (or 2 sticks of lemongrass outer leaves removed, softer inside chopped finely)
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
- 3 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp light brown sugar
- small bunch fresh coriander (cilantro) stalks you’ll be using the leaves later to serve, so just wrap them in a bit of damp tissue to keep them fresh
- ½ tsp salt
Other curry ingredients:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1.5 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA)
- 800 g (1.75 lbs) skinless, boneless, chicken thigh fillets chopped into bitesize chunks
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 360 ml (1 1/2 cups) chicken stock 2 stock cubes with water is fine
- 400 g (14 oz) can coconut milk
- 500 g (1.1 lbs) baby new potatoes (slice any bigger ones in half)
- juice of 1 lime
To Serve:
- boiled rice
- chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
- chopped red chillies
- lime wedges
- Marinated red onions
Instructions
- Place all the paste ingredients in a food processor or mini chopper and blend until it forms a paste. Set aside.1 chopped red onion, 3 mild red chillies, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 3 cloves garlic, 2 tsp lemongrass paste, 1 tsp minced ginger, 1 tsp shrimp paste, 3 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp light brown sugar, small bunch fresh coriander (cilantro) stalks, 1/2 tsp salt
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Toss the chopped chicken in the cornflour, salt, and pepper.2 tbsp oil, 1.5 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA), 800 g (1.75 lbs) skinless, boneless, chicken thigh fillets, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- Fry the chicken in the oil for about 5 minutes on a high heat, turning once until sealed and lightly browned. You can do this in one batch if your pan is large enough to add the chicken in a single layer.
- Once the chicken has cooked for 5 minutes, turn down the heat to medium and add in the spice paste you made earlier. Give it a stir to coat the chicken and let it cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Give everything a stir (make sure you give any bits stuck at the bottom of the pan a scrape), bring the sauce to a gentle simmer.360 ml (1 1/2 cups) chicken stock, 400 g (14 oz) can coconut milk
- Add in the potatoes, give it a stir and place a lid on, leaving a small gap for steam to escape. Cook for 30 mins, then remove the lid, stir and cook for a further 15 minutes, with no lid, until the potatoes are tender.500 g (1.1 lbs) baby new potatoes
- Stir in the lime juice, then serve the curry on a bed of rice with a sprinkling of coriander (cilantro), fresh chillies, and a wedge of lime. I like to add some marinated red onions too.juice of 1 lime, boiled rice, chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped red chillies, lime wedges
Notes
What type of potatoes to use?
I like to use baby new potatoes in this, but you can use fingerlings or larger potatoes. Ideally use a waxy potato that will hold together better during cooking. Charlotte, Jersey Royals and Yukon Gold all work great – simply wash and chop into big chunks (no need to peel).Can I freeze the curry?
Yes, any leftovers of this curry can be cooled, covered and frozen. Then defrosted overnight in the refrigerator and reheated in a pan (stirring often) or microwave until piping hot throughout.Can I store the homemade Massaman Paste?
Yes, the sauce should be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It should keep for about a week.Can I use a shop-bought paste instead of making my own?
Yes – although shop bought pastes are usually stronger. So use about 4 tbsp instead of the 6 tsp of homemade paste.Can I cook it in the slow cooker?
Yes, sear the coated chicken first add in the spice paste, coconut milk and stock as per the regular instructions. Then transfer to a slow cooker to continue cooking. I’d recommend cooking this for 3 hours on high or 4-5 hours on low. You can add the potatoes in at the beginning, or if you want them to be slightly firmer, add them in halfway through the cooking time.Cooking in the slow cooker doesn’t reduce the sauce as much, so I would recommend only using 120ml (1/2 cup) of chicken stock, instead of the 360ml (1.5 cups) listed in the recipe.
Nutritional informations is approximate, per serving, not including rice or toppings.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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