Slow Cooked Beef Massaman Curry – Rich, fall-apart slow cooked beef curry in a spicy homemade sauce with new potatoes. Perfect comfort food! Make extra and freeze some for a busy weeknight.
If you were stranded on a desert island and you had only one type of food to eat for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
For me, I think it has to be Thai food. Chocolate is probably a serious contender but that only satisfies my sweet tooth. Thai on the other hand? Hmmmm the sweet/spicy/zesty/creamy combinations are endless. I love a quick green thai chicken curry for a midweek meal, but a slow cooked curry with lovely juicy chunks of meat that fall apart and the tastiest saucy potatoes? Now that’s something else entirely!!
I made the massaman curry paste for this meal from scratch. It’s pretty simple to do, but shop bought curry paste works really well too.
I’ve used Massaman, Korma and Madras pastes (yes, I know the last two are Indian rather than Thai, it was what I had in at the time) and they all tasted great.
If you do go with a shop bought paste, I’d recommend you reduce the amount to about 4 tbsp, as shop bought it usually more concentrated.
Also, if you’re making this for kids or people who don’t like hot food, you can leave the chillies out of the paste, and just throw some chopped chillies in at the end, once you’ve dished out the non-chilli portions. It doesn’t give quite the same depth of heat, but is a good compromise rather than making two pots of curry.
The Beef Massaman Curry Recipe:
Slow Cooked Beef Massaman Curry - Rich, fall-apart beef in a spicy homemade sauce with new potatoes. Perfect comfort food!
- 1 chopped red onion
- 3 red chillies roughly chopped (or use fewer chillies, depending on how hot you like it)
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 3 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 sticks of lemongrass outer leaves removed, softer inside chopped finely
- 5 cm piece ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp shrimp paste optional, also it's generally gluten free, but best to check
- 3 tsp fish sauce ,make sure it's a gluten free brand if needed
- 1 tsp 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
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1.5 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 kg braising beef chopped into chunks
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 400 ml beef stock - 2 stock cubes with water is fine use kallo beef bouillon cubes for gluten free
- 400 ml can coconut milk it's usually gluten free, but double check
- 2 large red or white potatoes peeled and chopped into chunks
- Juice of 1 lime
- Boiled rice
- Chopped fresh coriander/cilantro
- Chopped red chillies
- Lime wedges
- Place all the paste ingredients in a food processor or mini chopper and blend until it forms a paste. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large pan. Toss the chopped beef in the cornflour, salt and pepper. Fry the meat in the oil for about 5 mins on medium to high heat. You can do this in batches, but I'm a bit too lazy for that. I find that if you put the meat in, and leave it alone for a few minutes before you stir it, you'll get a nice dark colour on the beef. The beef will probably stick a bit to the pan, so you might need to give it a little scrape with a spatula.
Once the beef has cooked for 5 mins, turn down the heat a little and add in the spice paste you made earlier. Give it a stir to coat the beef and let it cook for a couple of minutes. Then add in the beef stock and coconut milk. Give everything a stir (make sure you give any bits stuck at the bottom of the pan a scrape), place the lid on and gently simmer on a low heat for 1 hour 45 mins (alternatively you can place in the oven at about 160C/320F). Give it a stir every so often. If it's starting to look dry you can add in some more beef stock or water.
- After the 1 hour 45 mins, add in the potatoes, give it a stir and cook for a further 25 - 30 mins until the potatoes are tender (this is a good time to start cooking your rice too).
- Take out of the oven and mix in the lime juice. Serve the curry on a bed of rice with a sprinkling of coriander/cilantro, fresh chillies and a wedge of lime.
Can I make Massaman Curry Gluten Free?
Yes! Make sure you use gluten free stock cubes (I like Kallo Gluten free beef stock cubes)
Also check you're using gluten free fish sauce, shrimp paste and coconut milk.
.
Can I freeze Massaman Curry?
Yes, any leftovers of this curry can be cooled, covered and frozen. Then defrosted and reheated in the microwave until piping hot.
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Can I use a shop bought paste instead of making my own?
Yes - although shop bought pastes are usually stronger. So use about 4tbsp instead of the 6tsp of homemade paste. Also check it's a gluten free brand if needed!
Nutritional information is per serving, not including rice.
This recipe was first published in May 2014. Updated in June 2018 with new photos and cook’s tips.
Like the new photos? Ok (cringe) here’s the original photo: I was so chuffed with that photo back in May 2014! Eek! Hopefully I’ve improved!!
Equipment:
In order to make this Massaman Curry recipe you will need:
- A good Kitchen knife. I have recently bought this Dalstrong one and love it.
- Chopping Board
- Mini Chopper
- Measuring Jug
- Dutch Oven
- Juicer
- Measuring Spoons
- Garlic Press
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them.
- Rice Steamer.
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Shivani says
Hi,made the curry with chicken and it was absolute delicious.Next time would add in some more chillies to give it spicy taste. 🙂
ANDRE says
Recently, I discover your website and your recipes and my first try was the ORANGE CHICKEN.
Everyone at the table enjoyed it.
What a success!
Mike Smith says
Hi,
I’ve tried a few of your recipes and they’re all fantastic so far and this is next on my list. I was hoping to cook this in the slow cooker, how long would you recommend to cook it for on either high or low settings?
Thanks!
Chris Corbishley says
Hi Mike,
Sorry this one cant really be cooked in the slow cooker, you wouldn’t get the same result. When cooking in the oven the oil eventually separates from the coconut milk and essentially fries the beef, you wouldn’t get the same effect with a slow cooker.
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
Don says
Tried several received all great
Danielle says
It’s funny I have just spent this week creating a bunch of Thai recipe for my July posts. I didn’t do a massaman curry though. This sounds delicious, it’s one of my favorite curries. And your photos look great! I cringe every time i look back on mine too – I’ve got some god-awful horrendous ones!
Gretel says
Hi there, if I was to put this in the slow cooker, what setting and time would you recommend? And when to add the potatoes in the slow cooker?
Amber Donald says
Can you use a slow cooker instead?
Tom C says
The best curry I’ve ever had at home. I added a few extra chillies to the paste mix because I like my curry quite warm, and wow what an incredible dish!
tarryn says
just made this for dinner LOVED it. It was very yum thank you, great recipe.
Nicky Corbishley says
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out Tarryn. So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Corina says
Massaman is one of my favourite Thai curries – this looks stunning.
nickycorbishley says
Thanks Corina. It certainly is tasty – even more so the next day for lunch 🙂
nickycorbishley says
No problem, thanks for stopping by 🙂
yourperfectburn says
This looks so good. Thank you for sharing.