Massaman beef curry

This is one of the consistently best-selling dishes at Scott Gooding's The Good Farm Shop and one he makes for the family regularly. If you want more heat in the curry paste, simply throw in extra chillies and adjust the fish sauce, tamarind paste and sugar to taste for the perfect salty, sour and sweet flavour profile.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  3:30 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 red onions, thinly sliced
• ⅓ cup Massaman paste (recipe below)
• 4 beef cheeks
• 800 ml coconut cream
• 50 ml fish sauce
• 50 ml tamarind paste
• 6 curry leaves
• 50 g coconut sugar
• 200 g potatoes, roughly chopped
• ½ cup shredded coconut, toasted
• 2 limes, juiced

Massaman paste (makes 2 cups)

• 2 cups coconut oil
• 8 eschallots, quartered
• 100 g whole dried chillies
• 20 garlic cloves
• 200 g ginger, peeled
• 3 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tsp ground star anise
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 3 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric

Instructions

1. To make the massaman paste, combine the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor or blender and blitz to a thick paste. Transfer to an airtight container.
   
2. Heat the coconut oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Add 1/3 cup of the massaman paste and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon for 8-10 minutes.
   
3. Increase the heat and add the beef cheeks, turning occasionally to brown on all sides. Once browned, add the coconut cream and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Stir through the fish sauce, tamarind paste, curry leaves and coconut sugar. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 2.5-3 hours, stirring occasionally, until the beef cheeks are tender.
   
4. 30 minutes before ready to serve, add the potatoes to a medium saucepan and cover with water and a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and reduce to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Drain. With 10 minutes cooking time remaining for the curry, stir the drained potatoes through the massaman curry.
   
5. Combine the toasted coconut and lime juice in a small bowl. Before serving, taste the curry and adjust the flavour as you like, it should be sour (tamarind), salty (fish sauce), and sweet (coconut sugar). Add more or less of the ingredients to your preferred taste.
   
6. Serve the massaman beef curry with the lime toasted coconut.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

Flavour Packed Leaves

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

24m

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episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

24m

G