Beef Massaman Curry - Skinny Healthy Food

Slow Cooked Beef Massaman Curry – Rich, fall-apart beef in a spicy homemade sauce with new potatoes. Perfect comfort food!

Prep time :15 mins

Cook time: 2 hours 30 mins

Servings: 5-6

Massaman Paste (makes about 6 tbsp):

1 chopped red onion
2 or 3 red chillies (depending on how hot you like it), roughly chopped
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp cumin
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp white pepper
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 sticks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed, softer inside chopped finely
5cm 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
1 tsp brown sugar
10 fresh coriander/cilantro stalks (you’ll be using the leaves later to server, so just wrap them in a bit of damp tissue to keep them fresh)
½ tsp salt

Other curry ingredients:

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 tbsp cornflour
1kg braising beef, chopped into chunks
pinch of salt and pepper
400ml beef stock – 2 stock cubes with water is fine (use kallo beef bouillon cubes for gluten free)
400ml 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

To Serve:

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 curry paste. 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.

Any leftovers can be cooled, covered and frozen. Then defrosted and reheated in the microwave until piping hot.