Massaman beef curry

(serves 10-12)

My tolerance for chilli is pretty poor. When i say poor, i mean my tear ducts seem to well up out of my control when the spice level hits a certain threshold. In the beginning stages of my short spice-training career, Massaman curries were all i could handle because they had a strong spicy aroma but weren't chilli, and had this mouth-watering creamy coconut curry smoothness and melt-in-your-mouth beef that i fell in love with! Over the years i've slowly improved my tolerance to handle most other types of curry, albeit at a stretch and with heaps of rice and water on the side, and unfortunately still with tears streaming down the face occasionally!

Massaman was the first curry I ever attempted to make. It is still a favourite, though i have forgotten it a little in recent years as I have gone about exploring others. Recently my beautiful friend Charissa had a gorgeous baby boy, and i remembered good ol' Massaman as i was trying to brainstorm a few simple meals that would freeze well to help them out a bit, so hello old friend!

Prep time: 15 min
Cooking time: 6hrs

Ingredients
4 T massaman curry paste
600mL coconut cream
400mL coconut milk
400mL beef stock
1kg osso bucco or 800g chuck steak, diced into large cubes
5 potatoes
1 sweet potato
1 large eggplant (optional)
vegetable oil
4-6 C jasmine rice, to serve
1/2 C peanuts (optional to serve)
fried onions, to serve

Seasoning
2-3 T fish sauce
10 tsp sugar

Method
1. Place the osso bucco in a pot of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, drain the water, then re-fill the pot with just enough boiling water to cover the meat.
2. Cook on low heat for 2hrs (or put into a thermal cooker).
3. Drain the stock into a separate bowl/pot and put the meat and keep aside. Clean the pot.

4. Heat the pan on low heat with 1 T vegetable oil, then add the curry paste. Break up the paste quickly, allow the oil to release the aroma of the paste ~ yum!
5. Quickly add the coconut milk and stir through the paste, bring to the boil then add the coconut milk and beef stock, and bring to the boil again. Add the meat back in, and continue to cook on low heat for another 2-3hrs.
NB. The longer the better on low heat, as this softens the meat and helps with the melt-in-your mouth feel. However, if you are short on time then you can use less time.
6. Peel the potatoes and cut into half. Cut the eggplant into large 2cm x 2cm cubes. Place into the pot and allow to cook for another half hour.

7. Season the curry with fish sauce and sugar. 
8. Peel and cut the sweet potato into large chunks and place into the pot and cook for another 30min.
9. In the meantime, cook the rice in the rice-cooker.
10. Sprinkle with fried onions and peanuts and serve with warm jasmine rice!

Great meal to do in batch and freeze up for emergencies!