Krung Kaeng Masaman Curry Paste

I’ve been making a few curry pastes of late. I like the ones that are not too hot but are deliciously spicy non the less 😄. My husband Jason is my standard of approval for all my baking and him being a sufferer of Coeliac disease, I’m always on the lookout for tasty gluten free meals. This has quite a few ingredients but is such a lovely paste to make and the curry it makes is quite sublime.

First get your ingredients together.

  
2 teaspoons chilli powder

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon shredded lemon grass

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom 

1/2 teaspoon ground mace or nutmeg

2 tablespoons oil

2 medium sized onions, finely sliced

5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

1/2 teaspoon dried shrimp paste, roasted
Heat the oil in a frying pan and on a low heat fry the sliced onions and garlic till soft and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the dried shrimp paste and fry for a minute longer, crushing it in the oil. 

  
  
Put this fried mixture into a blender or small food processor with the lemon grass and the rest of the dry spices and blend to a paste. You can add a little water to help it along if needed. I didn’t need it 😄. 

  
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the curry it made but have included that recipe as well. It is so nice and tastes even better reheated the next day.

Kaeng Masaman curry.

1kg diced beef

4 cups of coconut milk

1 cup roasted, unsalted peanuts

2 tablespoons of fish sauce

5-8 whole uncrushed cardamom pods 

1 stick of cinnamon

1quantity of Masaman curry paste

3 tablespoons tamarind liquid

2 tablespoons of lime or lemon juice

1-2 tablespoons palm sugar
Put into large saucepan the meat, coconut milk, peanuts, fish sauce, cardamom pods and cinnamon quill. Bring slowly to simmering point, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Turn heat to low and allow to simmer, uncovered, until meat is tender, about an hour. Do not cover at any stage or the coconut milk will curdle.

When the meat is tender, lift it out into a clean bowl with a slotted spoon and simmer the coconut milk a little longer until it is reduced by about a third. If it has already reduced a lot during cooking, omit this part. Add the curry paste, tamarind liquid, lemon juice and palm sugar now. Add back the beef to the pan and continue simmering until the gravy has thickened slightly. Serve with rice.

Apologies for no photos here but I can assure you that this is one of our favourite curries. I found it strange to add the actual curry paste at the end but it all worked out well and the taste was lovely. 

Bon appetit!