Massaman Chicken Curry with Potatoes and Toasted Whole Spices
Inspired by techniques from NYT Cooking.
Whole spices are toasted, ground and mixed with red curry paste, fried in coconut cream, then simmered with coconut milk, potatoes, browned chicken thighs, peanuts, fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind until thick.
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Method
- 1
Toast the spices. Toast 3 cardamom pods, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, the cinnamon stick and 4 cloves in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 min. Grind finely and mix with the pinch of nutmeg and 60 g red curry paste.
- 2
Brown the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat and brown 800 g chicken pieces in batches, about 3 min per side. Set aside.
- 3
Fry the paste. Spoon the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk into the pot and fry the spice paste in it, stirring, until fragrant and the oil separates, 3 to 5 min. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 3 min.
- 4
Reduce. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and boil gently for 10 min until slightly thickened.
- 5
Simmer. Add 450 g potatoes and simmer 10 min, then add the chicken, 50 g peanuts, 4 tsp fish sauce, 10 g palm sugar and 2 tsp tamarind. Simmer, partly covered, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken reaches 74 °C, 20 to 25 min.
- 6
Rest and serve. Taste and balance the sweet, sour and salty notes, then rest 5 min so the oil rises. Serve with rice, scattered with coriander and the chopped peanuts.
Storage
Refrigerate up to 3 days and reheat once until piping hot. It freezes well for up to 3 months, though the potatoes soften. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
Equipment
- small dry frying pan
- spice grinder or mortar and pestle
- small bowl
- large frying pan
- plate
- large heavy pot or casserole (about 5 l)
- wooden spoon
- instant-read probe thermometer
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 610 kcal |
| Protein | 34.3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 27.5 g |
| of which sugars | 5.8 g |
| of which free sugars | 1.8 g |
| Fat | 42.6 g |
| of which saturates | 27.8 g |
| Fibre | 4.1 g |
| Salt | 1.92 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
5.6 g High Protein needs ≥ 10 g
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
