Here comes the Curry Recipe!

The makings of the Massaman Curry Recipe:

Exotic ingredients: (left to right) Mae Ploy Curry paste, fish sauce, chili paste, cooking  Tamarind, palm sugar. *Not pictured, the can of coconut milk, you can get that at any supermarket.

This man loves his curry!

This is kind of an exotic dish, so not everyone is going to want to run out and make it, but I've since found that I'm not the only one with a deep devotion to Massaman curry. So if you've just got to have it, it's really not that hard to make. You just have to go out of your way to find the ingredients. I did a google search and found a Thai grocery store in Layton, called Thai Market at 1986 N Hill Field Rd. ( In the same complex as Blockbuster). They have everything you need in that category of exotic ingredients, if you are in that area. (Plus it's fun to wander through and look at the other interesting offerings, such as grass jelly. Yes,  ingredients: grass, cornstarch. Will let you know when I find the recipe that calls for that one. Oh and I got a bottle of this great Pad Thai sauce and some flat rice noodles, and fried up a batch of pad thai that was pretty good!)

You will need:

1 can coconut milk

1 lb. chicken thigh meat, cut into chunks

3-4 TBS. Massaman curry paste

3-4 TBS. peanuts, finely ground (throw in a few whole ones to if you like.)

1 large sweet potato or yam, peeled and cut into thin slices

1 onion, chopped. (or you can use 10 baby pearl onions)

few TBS. fish sauce

Slivered fresh hot thai chilis (here I deviated from the recipe and use thai chili garlic paste from Smith's, but you can get these at the Layton market).

Spoonful of Tamarind juice

Palm sugar (you can get this in a jar or in these little compressed half-tennis ball shapes).

Ok, the whole recipe is online here, but I will type it out the way I did it, in case the link expires or something.

First of all, put the can of coconut milk in the fridge overnight, to separate the cream. Then when you are ready to make the curry,  scoop most of the solid cream out of the can and heat on medium in a large saucepan. Add the curry paste and fry it up in the coconut oils to bring out the flavors. Smells great!  Now add the meat and fry it up for a few minutes. Now add the sweet potato, cut in thin slices so it will cook more quickly, and the onions. 

Add the ground peanuts and all the coconut milk.

Simmer on low med. heat till potatoes are tender.

Now season the curry.

 Add a few Tbs. of palm sugar and the fish sauce, tamarind and chili peppers or paste. 

Adjust the salty taste of the fish sauce, the sweet of the sugar and the sour of the Tamarind till you get a good flavor.(Helps  if you've had it before). Make it as hot/mild as you like by adjusting the peppers. Sometimes I add a dash of cinnamon at this point. Keep tasting till you're satisfied with the flavor. Now you're done! (Don't let your husband know how easy it was to make and let him be impressed with your amazing insight into ethnic cuisine.)

Best when served over a fragrant rice like Basmati or Jasmine. 

Mmmmm, enjoy your curry. And the best part is it didn't cost 10.95 a plate!