Let’s address the elephant in the room – no, I am not from Thailand. I’ve never even been (though it is a dream of mine)! I know that tends to make people feel some kind of way, especially with International cuisine. But I feel that I need to share this authentic Massaman curry recipe anyway, because the woman who taught it to me 15 years ago encouraged me to share it broadly.
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I learned this authentic Massaman curry recipe from a Thai woman I met when I lived in Utah. She ran a small Asian market there and was always so helpful and passionate about wanting everyone to love and appreciate the food of her country. I’ve done my best to stay true to her instruction, making only one adjustment. When cooking with beef or pork, I braise it for 90 minutes first in beef bone broth before beginning the other steps. I do beef stew the same way. I do this for timing, so that the beef is tender but the carrots and potatoes don’t get mushy.
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Everything else is as she wrote it, and it hits every time. If you’re not familiar with Massaman curry, it’s one of the best introductory Thai curries. It has so much depth to it, but isn’t spicy like other curries can be. Massaman curry is perfect for the “in-between-seasons” time as it’s hearty and comforting but fresh and vibrant with flavor.
So if you’re looking for the best authentic Massaman curry recipe, I think you’ll love this one. And though you may not trust me to know the difference, I’m only a messenger for someone who definitely does. And if you are from Thailand, I would love to hear your thoughts on the recipe! Does it seem legitimate to you??
Authentic Thai Massaman Curry
Ingredients:
To Braise the Beef
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp Massaman Curry Paste (Mae Ploy brand preferred)
- 2.5 lbs Beef chuck roast fat, trimmed, cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 cups beef bone broth
For the Curry
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 tbsp Massaman Curry Paste (Mae Ploy brand preferred)
- 1 1/2 19oz cans coconut cream or full fat coconut milk (Mae Ploy brand preferred)
- 3 medium russet potatoes, cubed
- 3 large carrots, large rough cut
- 2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 4 tbsp coconut or palm sugar
- 3 tbsp tamarind concentrate (found in your local Asian market or on Amazon)
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts or cashews
- 2 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
- 1 handful cilantro, chopped
- lime wedges
Directions:
Braise the Beef
- Turn the oven to 325º and place a medium dutch oven (with a lid) on the stove top on medium heat. Heat the coconut oil in the dutch oven for a minute or two then add the curry paste and stir fry until fragrant. Add the beef cubes, stir around to coat evenly in the curry paste and brown slightly. Add the beef stock, stir, turn the temp up and bring to a simmer. Cover, turn off the heat and put the dutch oven in the heated oven for 90 minutes.
Make the Curry
- Once the beef is done, remove the meat into a bowl and set aside. Put the dutch oven over medium high heat and reduce by about half.
- While that reduces, heat another large dutch oven (with a lid) on the stove top on medium heat. Add the coconut oil and curry paste and stir fry until fragrant. Add 1/2 can of coconut cream (or coconut milk) and mix to combine. Simmer, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles red.
- Add the reduced cooking liquid from the beef, the remaining coconut milk, the braised beef, potatoes, and carrots, and kaffir lime leaves to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the temp to medium and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind liquid and peanuts and cook for another 15 minutes. Taste the liquid – if too salty, add water 1/4 cup at a time.
Serve
- Traditionally this is served with rice. My wife can't have grain so we started using a mix of finely chopped cabbage and cauliflower rice, quickly stir fried in a little olive oil with salt and pepper. Because of the potatoes, eating with rice can be a bit heavy so we've come to prefer the cabbage/cauliflower, but a good scoop of jasmine rice is hard to beat with this.
- Serve in a bowl topped with some chopped cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
The russet potatoes were a no go for us. They dissolved and gave the curry a grain texture. We usually use golden potatoes for our curries but wanted to try this recipe out and we will stick to golden potatoes. Bummed to have spent so much money and time on something that came out with a very unpleasant texture.
Second time I made this and doubly delicious! I did it without meat since I did not have some on hand. I just added chickpeas but it was still really good. Thanks for sharing!
I normally wouldn’t try a Thai recipe from someone not from Thailand, but your recipe deserves 5 Stars. I had 2# of chuck roast on hand, added about 1# each each of potatoes and carrots (basically your recommendation), but I only used about half of the sauce mix, to taste (fish sauce, palm sugar & tamarind). Braising the beef was definitely worth it as the chuck roast comes out with a melt in your mouth texture. Thanks for posting!
Way too much tamarind concentrate. Before adding the concentrate, it was tasting almost like the restaurant Massaman curry that I love. Maybe you meant to say 3 tsp and not tbsp? Good recipe otherwise, thank you.
This was delicious! Even our three year old cleared his plate. Added some pineapple to the curry and served over white rice. Will definitely be adding to the rotation!