Lighter Massaman Chicken Curry Recipes

MASSAMAN CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add in the shallot and cook until translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
• Add in the chicken and cook until the surface turns white. Add in the curry paste and sauté, stirring constantly, until the curry paste is fragrant and has deepened in color.
• Next, add in the potatoes and carrots. Slowly pour in the coconut milk and broth. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes
• Uncover, add in the brown sugar, peanut butter and fish sauce. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro, peanuts and a juicy squeeze of lime.

CHICKEN MASSAMAN CURRY

Steps:

• Heat vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in curry paste and minced ginger; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the cubed chicken, and cook until the pieces turn white on the outside, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in brown sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste, peanut butter, potatoes, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are tender and the chicken pieces are no longer pink in the center, about 20 minutes. Add the lime juice and cook for an additional 5 minutes before serving.

LIGHTER MASSAMAN CHICKEN CURRY

Steps:

• To make the curry paste, heat a small heavy-based frying pan and drop in all the seeds and the cloves. Dry-fry over a medium heat, shaking the pan often, for 1-2 mins to release their flavours - until they start popping in the pan. Mix in the chillies, then grind finely using a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. Set aside.
• Heat the oil in the same pan. Tip in the shallots and garlic, and fry over a medium heat for 5-6 mins, stirring occasionally, until a deep, rich golden brown. Stir in the ground spices and stir-fry for 1 min. Spoon into a mini processor with the ginger, lemongrass and coconut milk. Blitz until it is as smooth as you can get it, then stir in the black pepper. Can be kept in the fridge for several days.
• To make the curry, dry-fry the peanuts in a small frying pan for about 2 mins to give them extra colour and flavour. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, tip in the shallots and fry over a medium heat, turning occasionally, for 8-10 mins until they are well browned all over and softened. Remove and set aside. Put the cinnamon stick and curry paste in the sauté pan and cook for 1 min. Pour in 100ml of the coconut milk. Let it bubble for 2 mins, stirring occasionally, until it's like a thick paste. Tip in the chicken and stir-fry in the paste over a high-ish heat for 6-8 mins or until cooked.
• Meanwhile, steam the sweet potato chunks for 8-10 mins and the beans for about 5 mins. Remove the pan of chicken from the heat and stir in the remaining coconut milk, the fish sauce, tamarind paste and stock. Lay the sweet potatoes and shallots in the curry and warm through gently over a very low heat - overheating or overcooking may cause the coconut milk to curdle and thicken. If you need to thin the sauce slightly, stir in 1-2 spoons of water. Remove the cinnamon.
• Lay a bunch of the beans to one side of each serving bowl or plate. Spoon the curry over one end of the beans and serve scattered with the coriander, Thai basil and peanuts.

CHICKEN MASSAMAN CURRY

Steps:

• Dry-toast the chiles de arbol and guajillo chiles in a medium cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium heat until lightly blackened in spots, 30 seconds to 1 minute per side. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover with hot water; let sit for 20 minutes to soften. Drain.
• Meanwhile, add the shrimp paste foil packet and the coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon to the skillet. Toast the shrimp paste (in the foil), about 1 minute per side and stir to toast the spices until golden brown in spots and very fragrant, about 2 minutes total. Remove the foil packet and transfer the spices to a bowl. When completely cool, remove the shrimp paste from the foil and discard the foil. Grind the spices into a powder in a spice grinder.
• Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the lemongrass, galangal, garlic, cilantro roots and shallot and toast until blackened in spots, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the drained chiles, toasted shrimp paste, ground spices, nutmeg and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Pulse and scrape down the food processor multiple times until you have a fine paste.
• Place the curry paste and 1/2 cup coconut milk in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. As the mixture cooks down, stir more frequently, scraping the bottom, until the oil separates and the paste sticks aggressively to the pan, 6 to 8 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons tamarind, the tablespoon fish sauce and tablespoon palm sugar and cook, stirring, a few seconds. Add the chicken thighs and turn in the curry paste to coat. Add the rest of the coconut milk, the peanuts, bay leaves, star anise, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup water.
• Simmer gently, partially covered, until the chicken is almost cooked through and the liquid has reduced slightly, 40 minutes. Tuck in the potatoes and onion, making sure the potatoes are submerged in the liquid. Simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are fork tender, about 20 more minutes. Add 2 more tablespoons of tamarind. Taste and adjust with more tamarind, fish sauce, sugar and salt, if necessary. There might be a layer of bright orange oil on top. Feel free to skim some of it off, but it is traditional to leave some oil in the curry.
• Serve with the steamed jasmine rice.

SHORTCUT CHICKEN MASSAMAN CURRY

Steps:

• Combine the curry paste and 2 tablespoons coconut milk in a large saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring and scraping the mixture until it sticks to the pan and starts to brown, 5 minutes. Add the fish sauce and stir for a few seconds, then add the potatoes, peanuts, bay leaf, lemongrass, onion, the rest of the coconut milk, 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile, toss together the sliced chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and let sit at room temperature. Add the chicken to the sauce and simmer gently until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and lemongrass. Serve with the rice.

SLOW COOKER CHICKEN MASSAMAN CURRY

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Add chicken pieces in batches, cooking until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Place browned chicken in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers on top of the meat in the slow cooker.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in the skillet and add onion. Cook until soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add to slow cooker. Add red curry paste, ginger paste, and lemongrass paste to the skillet and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in 1 can coconut milk; reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer until reduced by half, about 10 minutes.
• Whisk in remaining 1 can coconut milk, chicken broth, and peanut butter. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer until liquid begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Pour sauce over ingredients in the slow cooker; stir gently to combine.
• Set slow cooker to Low and cook until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, 4 to 6 hours.
• 20 minutes before serving season with lemon juice, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Stir in 1/2 cup of chopped peanuts. Serve with hot cooked rice and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of peanuts.

MASSAMAN CHICKEN CURRY

Steps:

• Par boil the potatoes, drain and set aside.
• To make the paste, place the peppercorns, cinnamon, cumin and corriander in a frying pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until aromatic.
• Cool the spice mixture, then add it to a food processor, together with the chilli, shallots, ginger, lemongrass, garlic and peanuts. Process until you have a smooth paste.
• Add the oil to a large, heavy based pan, and heat on a medium heat.
• Add the chicken pieces, and cook until browned. You might need to do this in batches.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
• Still on a medium heat, add the spice mixture and fry gently for about 1 minute.
• Add the coconut milk and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
• I like my curry paste super-smooth, so at this stage I remove from heat, cool for a few minutes and then add to a blender, and blend the coconut milk and spice mixture until it's a smooth, creamy mix. Return to the pan. This step is entirely optional.
• Add the sugar to the coconut milk mixture, and cook on medium for a further 3 minutes.
• Return the chicken to the pan and add in the potatoes, bay leaf, cardamon pods, fish sauce and tamarind.
• Bring to the boil, then reduce and gently simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until chicken and potatoes are cooked.
• Add the extra peanuts 5-10 minutes before finish cooking.
• Serve with steamed rice and/or roti.