Massaman Curry (Instant Pot)
Massaman curry is a southern Thai curry that uses spices other Thai curries typically don't use such as cardamom, cloves, cumin, nutmeg, and cinnamon. This is from an Indian and Malay influence on this dish. In Malaysian, masam translates into "sour," hence the use of tamarind. This curry is coconut milk based, usually containing beef, potato, onion, and peanuts.While there are a lot of ingredients to make this curry paste, it is much better than any store bought for a fraction of the price. The easiest way is to make the paste is in a blender or a food processor. Store the curry paste in the refrigerator for up to a week. Anything that won't be used in that time frame should be frozen.When choosing the beef for the curry, you want to use something that is good for braising since this dish takes some time to cook. Chuck works the best, but you can use bottom round, short rib, or shank meat.You can still make this recipe if you don't have an Instant Pot, but cooking the beef until tender will take longer. Sear the beef in a dutch oven, then place in a 300 degree preheated oven for 2 hours. After the beef is done cooking, remove from the dutch oven. Drain any remaining grease from the dutch oven. On medium heat, deglaze the dutch oven with 1 cup of the coconut milk, scraping up any brown bits. Add the curry paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer on medium low heat for 1 hour.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Massaman Curry Paste
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 1/2 tsp white peppercorns
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1 1/4 cup dried red chilies
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup shallots
- 1/3 cup lemongrass
- 1/4 cup galangal
- 1/4 cup cilantro roots
- 1/4 cup garlic cloves
- 2 tsp fermented shrimp paste
Massaman Curry
- 1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef chuck roast 1" cubes
- 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 3 cups coconut milk
- 6 tbsp massaman curry paste
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 2 medium potatoes 1" cubes
- 1 small onion diced
- 1/4 cup roasted peanuts
Garnish
- cilantro chopped
- roasted peanuts crushed
Instructions
Massaman Curry Paste
- Assemble the curry paste ingredients. In a spice grinder, grind the coriander, cumin, and white peppercorns together. Add them together with the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt. Grind the dried red chilies in the spice grinder. Set them aside.
- In a food processor or blender, add all curry paste ingredients.
- Blend until a paste is formed. You might have to add up to a 1/4 cup of water if the paste is too dry. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the blender to make sure all of the ingredients are incorporated.
- Store in a container for up to a week in the refrigerator. Freeze anything else that won't be used. You should yield enough paste to make 3 batches of my massaman curry recipe.
Massaman Curry
- Set your Instant Pot to the Sauté function on high. Add the cooking oil. Add in the cubed chunks of chuck.
- Brown the beef on all sides. Remove from the pot.
- Turn the heat to medium. Deglaze the pot with 1 cup of the coconut milk, scraping up any brown bits. Add 6 tbsp of the curry paste. Let cook or 2 minutes.
- Add in the rest of the coconut milk, palm sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, and the cooked beef. Put the cover on the Instant Pot. Set the function to Pressure Cooker on high for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes is up, release the pressure. Turn the function to Sauté on medium heat. Add in the potatoes, onions, and peanuts. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through. If the sauce gets to thick, add in a little bit of water.
- Serve with steamed rice. Garnish with crushed peanuts and chopped cilantro.
