Massaman Chicken Curry with Potatoes and Toasted Whole Spices
Inspired by techniques from NYT Cooking.
Whole spices are toasted, ground and mixed with red curry paste, fried in coconut cream, then simmered with coconut milk, potatoes, browned chicken thighs, peanuts, fish sauce, palm sugar and tamarind until thick.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Toast the spices. Toast 3 cardamom pods, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds, the cinnamon stick and 4 cloves in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 min. Grind finely and mix with the pinch of nutmeg and 60 g red curry paste.
- 2
Brown the chicken. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat and brown 800 g chicken pieces in batches, about 3 min per side. Set aside.
- 3
Fry the paste. Spoon the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk into the pot and fry the spice paste in it, stirring, until fragrant and the oil separates, 3 to 5 min. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 3 min.
- 4
Reduce. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and boil gently for 10 min until slightly thickened.
- 5
Simmer. Add 450 g potatoes and simmer 10 min, then add the chicken, 50 g peanuts, 4 tsp fish sauce, 10 g palm sugar and 2 tsp tamarind. Simmer, partly covered, until the potatoes are tender and the chicken reaches 74 °C, 20 to 25 min.
- 6
Rest and serve. Taste and balance the sweet, sour and salty notes, then rest 5 min so the oil rises. Serve with rice, scattered with coriander and the chopped peanuts.
Storage
Refrigerate up to 3 days and reheat once until piping hot. It freezes well for up to 3 months, though the potatoes soften. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
Why this label?
34.3 g protein for 610 kcal = 5.6 g per 100 kcal, so protein gives about 22% of the energy. High Protein needs at least 20% (5 g per 100 kcal), the condition in the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
EU nutrition claims
- Low sugars: 2.3 g sugars per 100 g (limit ≤ 5 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 256 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
1.8 g per serving
3.6 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 7.2 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- small dry frying pan
- spice grinder or mortar and pestle
- small bowl
- large frying pan
- plate
- large heavy pot or casserole (about 5 l)
- wooden spoon
- instant-read probe thermometer
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 610 kcal |
| Protein | 34.3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 27.5 g |
| of which sugars | 5.8 g |
| of which free sugars | 1.8 g |
| Fat | 42.6 g |
| of which saturates | 27.8 g |
| Fibre | 4.1 g |
| Salt | 1.92 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
5.6 g meets High Protein (≥ 5 g, 20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
