This recipe gives a choice of chicken, beef, or lamb. It is a large recipe and will have lots of left-overs. We usually serve it over brown rice, but it could be treated like a stew. The smell of this is incredible, and like many stews and breads the flavors become even more complex and fragrant by the second day.

Ingredients:

• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 20 cardamom seeds
• 8 star anise (or 1 tsp anise seeds)
• 10 cloves
• 3 Tbsp canola oil
• 3-4 oz Massaman curry paste
• 3 lbs of meat (chicken thigh, beef flank, or lamb rump) cut large chunks
• 1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
• 3 cups stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable broth)
• 3 onions (peeled and quartered)
• 4 Tbsp fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 6 Tbsp tamarind puree or lemon juice
• 1 cup roasted peanuts
• roughly a pound of potatoes cut into 1″ cubes, or 6 chopped chopped bell peppers (red, yellow, orange)

Directions: 

1. Dry-fry the cinnamon stick, cardamom seeds, star anise, and cloves in a skillet or a wok over low heat. Stir all the ingredients around for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from pan.
2. Heat the oil in the wok or skillet and stir in the massaman paste, then stir over medium heat for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
3. Add the meat and cook for 3-5 minutes until somewhat cooked.
4. Add the coconut milk, stock, onions, fish sauce, sugar, tamarind puree or lemon juice, the dry-fried spices, and the roasted peanuts. Gently simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes.
5. Add the potatoes or bell peppers and continue to simmer, uncovered over low heat for another 30 minutes.
6. Serve with brown rice.

Note: This recipe was modified from a recipe in the “Fresh Thai” cookbook.