Made-from-scratch Beef Massaman Curry! This epic Thai coconut curry takes time to make but you’ll be rewarded with a rich, fragrant curry with fall apart meat and beautiful layers of flavours that you can’t buy in a jar.
BONUS: I’ve also included directions for how to make this using store bought Massaman Curry paste, including my tip for the BEST brand to use!
Feeling inspired to make a Thai banquet? Try adding Chicken Satay Skewers, Thai Fish Cakes, Pad See Ew Noodles or Thai Fried Rice to your menu!
Massaman Curry
Peanuts, coconut, aromatic fresh and ground spices, potatoes and fall apart beef. What’s not to love about Massaman Curry? It’s like all my favourite things, simmered in one pot!
And it’s not just me. There’s a reason why Massaman Curry seems to appear as a Chef’s Special at almost every Thai restaurant, along with its lamb shank counterpart. And that it was probably the single most requested recipe when I did a recipe call out.
We’ve embraced Massaman as a firm favourite and it’s totally worthy!
What is Massaman curry?
Massaman Curry is a bit of an outlier in Thai cuisine. It was born from Indian and Malay influences and as a result, the main flavours comes from spices typically associated with Indian curries. Spices such as: cumin, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom.
Basically, if you take Indian curry spices and do a mash up with aromatics used in Thai curries (garlic, lemongrass, galangal), add coconut and peanuts, you end up with Massaman Curry. So it tastes like a mash up between an Indian curry and Thai Curry.
And we love it!
“It’s not quick and easy, but it’s worth it!”
This recipe was never going to make my quick ‘n easy recipe collection, but every minute is worth it. The freshness of a made-from-scratch massaman curry paste puts store bought to shame.
Yes there are quite a few steps – but it’s not hard and I hope these process photos and the recipe video will give you the confidence that you got this!!!
Best beef for Massaman curry
One of the signature characteristics of Massaman Curry is tender fall apart meat. It’s most commonly made with beef. Though it will work fine with any slow cooking cut of beef, I find that beef chuck has the ideal amount of fat and fibre texture for this curry.
The cooking method for the beef is quite unique – it’s simmered in a pot with beef broth with lemongrass trimmings and bay leaves until it’s fall apart tender, then the reduced braising liquid and beef are later stirred into the curry.
This cooking method makes Massaman Curry very easy to adapt for almost any protein because basically, you just simmer your chosen meat until it’s super tender.
PS The pieces of beef are quite large – and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Big, juicy, fall apart pieces of beef. yesssssss!
The aromatics
The curry paste uses fairly common Thai aromatics.
Galangal is a common ingredient used in South East Asian cuisine – it looks like a red ginger but is tougher to cut, and tastes like citrusy/piney ginger. It can be found at everyday supermarkets in Australia (Coles, Woolies, Harris).
In addition to this, there’s dried Asian chillies (Asian store, or use these ones from Harris Farms), ginger, lemongrass and eschalots (the baby onions / French shallots).
The preparation of the Aromatics for Massaman Curry is quite unique, so I’m going to step through some of the key ones.
Dried Chillies – The seeds of chillies is where most of the spiciness is so by removing the seeds, it makes this curry quite mild. Also, dried Asian chillies are typically more mild than dried chillies from other regions (such as Caribbean and Hispanic).
Lemongrass – Typically when lemongrass is called for in a recipe, the reedy outer layers are peeled off and discarded. I like how the trimmings are used to flavour the beef broth in this recipe. Then the softer inside stalk is used in the standard manner – finely chopped then blitzed in the curry paste.
How to make Massaman curry paste
One of the characteristics of Massaman Curry is the signature hint of smokiness. In order to achieve this, the Aromatics are charred in some way – methods vary from using a charcoal grill to cooking in oil, or in a dry skillet which is how I do it in this recipe.
Once charred to infuse the Aromatics with the smokey flavour, the galangal is grated (it’s tough, so that’s the best way to ensure a smooth sauce), the garlic is peeled and the chillies are emptied of the seeds before blitzing in a food processor with toasted spices to make the paste.
Alternative: BEST store bought curry paste
We all have times when we need Massaman Curry but making it from scratch simply isn’t viable for whatever reason.
So I’ve included directions for how to make a really great Massaman Curry using store bought curry paste. Whatever the jar says to do, IGNORE IT! Follow the directions I’ve provided to toast the curry paste and brighten it up with a fresh hit of garlic, ginger and lemongrass paste before adding the coconut milk.
And for the BEST Massaman Curry paste, find the little Maesri cans. Restaurants use it, chefs use it, and I hoard it.
And it happens to be a bargain at ~$1.50 a can.
I use it for all my Thai curries when I don’t have time / ingredients to make the curry paste from scratch – Red, Green and Lamb Shank Massaman Curry.
Where to find Maesri curry paste – at your local grocery store!
It’s sold at most metropolitan Coles and Woolworths grocery stores in Australia (Asian section), at Harris Farms, practically all Asian stores (it would be un-Asian not to carry it!) and here it is online in Australia, US, Canada* and UK.
* Obscenely expensive, please try to get to an Asian store!
Can’t find it?
Use any Massaman Curry paste you can find. Order of preference (Aussie brands) – Ayam, Five Tastes and bringing up the rear is Volcom (it’s always too sweet).
Making the Massaman curry sauce
We’re on the home stretch here with the best part yet to come – EATING IT!
Making the Massaman Curry sauce and bringing it all together is relatively straight forward. Start off by sautéing the curry paste to bring out the flavour, add coconut milk, cinnamon and star anise.
Next, we season the curry sauce with fish sauce (the salty), tamarind (sour) and sugar (sweet). The holy trinity of Asian cooking – the perfect balance of sweet, salty and sour!
Add potatoes (raw) and by the time the potatoes are tender, the sauce should have reduced and thickened. If it thickens too fast, just thin it with water. Then lastly, plonk the beef back in just to heat through.
OMG can you imagine the smell of this, simmering away on the stove?? It’s insane!
And those hunks of beef that just fall apart at a touch…. and those tender potatoes that have sucked up all those amazing flavours….
And that sauce… that sauce!! 😩
It’s simply amazing.
Well, not that simple to make. But it’s so, so worth it! – Nagi x
PS Update: I’ve since shared Lamb Shank Massaman Curry. That too is amazing – with a capital A!
Complete your meal – starters!
On the side
Watch how to make it
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Massaman Curry
Ingredients
Spice Paste:
- 1 lemongrass (Note 1)
- 6 dried red Asian chillis (not Thai! Note 2)
- 4 eschallots , peeled (Note 3)
- 5 cloves garlic , unpeeled
- 3 cm / 2.25″ galangal piece , peeled, cut into 3/4 cm / 1/2″ slices (Note 4)
- 4 – 6 tbsp water
Spice Paste Dried Spices:
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3/4 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Beef:
- 700 g / 1.4lb beef chuck , cut into 4cm / 2.5″ cubes (Note 5)
- 500 ml / 2 cups beef broth , low sodium
- 2 bay leaves
Curry Sauce:
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml vegetable oil
- 400 ml / 14 oz coconut milk (full fat, 1 can)
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 1 star anise
- 1 tsp tamarind paste/puree (Note 6)
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 2 medium-small potatoes , peeled and cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces
Garnish & serving:
- 3 tbsp peanuts , roughly chopped
- Finely sliced red chilli (optional)
- Asian fried shallots (optional, Note 7)
- Steamed jasmine rice
Instructions
Lemongrass (see video):
- Remove reedy outer layers and trim lemongrass per Note 1.
- Reserve all the trimmings (for beef). Finely chop the white part (for paste.
Beef:
- Place Beef ingredients in a medium saucepan. Liquid should almost cover beef but not completely – if not, add water.
- Add lemongrass trimmings.
- Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 1.5 – 2 hours until beef is fork tender.
- Remove beef. If there’s much more than 1.5 cups liquid, simmer to reduce. Set liquid aside.
Char Aromatics (char = flavour!):
- Place heavy based skillet over high heat until smoking (no oil).
- Add eschalot, garlic and galangal in skillet. Get a nice char on them, then remove (~1.5 minutes).
- Add dried chillies into skillet, char 10 seconds or so on each side until charred, then remove.
- Once cool enough to handle: Grate galangal. Peel garlic. Break chillies in half, shake out seeds and discard.
Spice Paste Dried Spices:
- Wipe the skillet used above or use a clean one. Heat on medium heat, add Spice Paste Dried Spices. Toast for 30 seconds or until they start to smell fragrant – do not let them burn. Immediately transfer into bowl.
Curry Paste:
- Place chillies in food processor. (Note 8) Blitz until finely chopped.
- Add galangal, finely chopped lemongrass, the toasted Spice Paste Dried Spices, and remaining Spice Paste ingredients, starting with 4 tbsp water. Blitz until smooth – add more water if required.
Curry Sauce:
- Place oil in a pot or large skillet over medium high heat. Add curry paste and cook for 3 minutes until the liquid has cooked out and it’s thick and fragrant.
- Add coconut milk, stir to incorporate.
- Add cinnamon, star anise and reserved beef braising liquid. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Stir in fish sauce, tamarind and sugar, stir.
- Add potatoes and cook for 7 minutes or until potatoes are tender, turning as required.
- Add beef and simmer for 2 minutes or until sauce has reduced and thickened.
- Adjust: saltiness with fish sauce, sour with tamarind and sweet with sugar. The taste should be sweet, salty and sour, with more emphasis on the sweet and sour notes. Top up with a little water if the curry seems too thick
- Serve over jasmine rice, garnished with peanuts (essential!) plus optional crispy Asian shallots and fresh chillies.
Recipe Notes:
- Follow Beef steps to cook beef and make broth;
- Skip all curry paste making steps;
- Under Curry Sauce steps, use store bought paste instead of homemade PLUS 2 garlic cloves minced, 2 tsp minced ginger plus 1 tbsp lemongrass (paste OR finely grated fresh, white part only).
- Cook it off for 3 minutes per recipe, proceed with recipe as written.
Nutrition Information:
I adore Thai curries!
Proof:
Life of Dozer
His eyes boggle at the sight of a big slab of beef…. OMG OMG….
Kate says
Love this recipe, but I am away from home and don’t have access to a food processor. Could I use Maesri curry paste?
Nagi says
Hi Kate, you sure can – I like to pimp thinks up a little though so would add some garlic, ginger & lemongrass paste. I’m actually in the process of testing this and will write up a curry paste version soon! – N x
Artur says
thank you very much for the recipe. I have been looking for a long time, experimenting but I have never been able to get this wonderful aroma and taste of massaman
Nagi says
Thanks so much for the great feedback Artur!
Artur says
thank you very much for the recipe. I have been looking for a long time, experimenting but I have never been able to get this wonderful aroma and taste of massaman
Maria says
Just wanted to say thank you Nagi for this incredible recipe. – So much depth of flavour. Made it for dinner tonight and I will definitely be making again. Maybe even possibly doing a double/triple batch of the curry paste and freezing in containers.
Nagi says
YES!!! That’s the best!
Maria says
Hey Nagi, just wondering wether you can make the paste in advance and refrigerate/freeze it? Also just wondering what your preferred brand is for supermarket bought beef stock (I’m in NSW) as I don’t have any home made at the moment and want to try this recipe tonight. Absolutely love your recipes!
Thanks.
Nagi says
Hi Maria, yes you can make the paste in advance, keep in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze up to a month. I use Campbell’s stock when cooking – N x
Katrina says
Delicious, beautiful balance of flavours.
Will definitely be making again.
Nagi says
Thanks so much Katrina for letting me know!
Michelle says
Made this last night and WOW it was a hit. All the spices and fish sauce brings it alive. added more chili as i love spice and added more vegetables to bulk it up as i normally don’t have curries with rice! Fantastic thank you
Nagi says
That’s great Michelle!
Stephen says
Hi Nagi! Thanks for this recipe. I cooked it last night. The flavours were out of this world. The potatoes were too hard, though. I cut them to 2.5cm and cooked for 7 minutes then probably 10 more reducing the sauce. Does the type of potato make a difference? Anyway, other than that the dish was awesome. I’ve cooked your recipes three nights this week and I’ll be doing the Vietnamese Caramel Chicken tonight. Can’t wait! Your site inspires me (a 50-year-old, fast-food loving, single man) to cook. That takes some doing. Lol. Thank you 🙂
Nagi says
Hi Stephen, yes it could be the type of the potatoes you used – sorry you had issues here! I hope you love the chicken – make sure you let me know what you think!
Melanie Massey says
Nagi. This Massaman Curry was absolutely sublime, worth going the extra mile for. I am totally converted and won’t be using store bought pastes again. Thanks again for yet another magnificent recipe
Nagi says
I’m so glad you loved it Melanie!
Bill Hancock says
Just done this recipe but had to use ginger and lemon zest instead of the galangal, still tasted great.
Nagi says
Awesome Bill!!
Brigette says
Thank you Nagi for this recipe – it is delicious!!! I made it exactly as stated (except for ginger instead of galangal) and my parents and I are loving it.
This recipe will definitely be one of our regulars!
Nagi says
I’m so glad it was a hit Brigette!!
Fiona says
Hi Nagi. I love all your recipes!! I am wanting to make Massaman curry in the slow cooker using store bought curry paste (I have Mae Ploy brand here) Can you please advise best way do do it? I wasn’t sure whether to throw everything in together or cook meat first in curry paste? Please help. Thank you! 🙂
Annie says
Hi Nagi, I love your blog. I plan to try making this recipe. Can I use the Masre yellow tin Massaman Curry paste & add extras to up the flavour. Can you give me a few suggestions as to what to add. Thanks heaps Annie
Nagi says
Yes! I keep meaning to write it up, here are the ingredients to improve the curry paste flavour (it’s for Maesri, my fave!). Start and finish with recipe as written, just changes to the curry paste sautéing step:
1 x 114g tin Maesri Massaman Curry Paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, minced
1 tbls lemongrass paste
Place oil in a pot or large skillet over medium high heat. Add curry paste, garlic, ginger & lemongrass paste and cook for 3 minutes until the liquid has cooked out and it’s thick and fragrant.
Add coconut milk, stir to incorporate. Continue with recipe as written!
Lauren says
Thanks for that! I was hoping there was a quick version using a “jazzed up” supermarket paste 🙂
Annie says
Thank you so much. I will let you know how it turns out
Rita says
Hi Nagi,
Oh my this looks awesome. My beautiful Thai niece-in-law makes this all the time, but the only time I ever have it is when I visit her and since she is 5 hours away on the other side of NSW, it is not very often that I can have it. She makes it at the restaurant she owns with my nephew. But I must say this looks as close as it gets to theirs. I’m so happy I found this recipe as now I can replicate it at home. Thank you again for a fab recipe.
Nagi says
I hope you give it a go Rita, I’d love to know what you think!
Jane says
Hi, first off am loving your recipes. The pork in the honey butter sauce is to die for. Quick question the Massaman Curry can it be frozen? Also can I cook it the day before and then reheat it? Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Jane, I’m so glad you’re loving my recipes! Yes this can be frozen and yes it’s perfect to make ahead and reheat!
Linda says
As with all your recipes, this is another 5 star dish! It’s laborious but well worth it. The flavour is so complex and you’re right, it develops more depth the day after. Best beef dish so far. I’m going to try the rendang beef this week. So glad I found your blog, I now only trust recipes from your website…My family is loving it!
Nagi says
Woah thanks so much Linda, I truly appreciate the feedback ❤️
Alex says
I really enjoyed making this dish, and it tasted lovely- the paste was great. Though, I don’t know what I did wrong- the colour of my curry was a murky brown- not sure why. I didn’t add the beef stock that I cooked the meat in- I was worried it might taste a bit too meaty, if that makes sense. next time I will though- great dish regardless!
Nagi says
Oh I hope you try it with the stock, you really need that flavour! – N x
Rosemary says
Hi wondering if i used a store brought paste instead of making my own could I still use this recipe and follow other steps? Also how much paste would I use from the jar? Thanks
Kristen Morgan says
We love this recipe!! Trying it with pork belly this time. Quick question, is it 3cm/1.25in of galangal or 5.5cm/2.25in?
Thanks for another great recipe!
Kerry says
Super excited to make this.
Can I use olive oil instead. I don’t have vegetable oil. And could I use coconut sugar as I don’t have white sugar
Nagi says
Sure can Kerry, I hope you love it!
Nagi says
Yes to both!! N x
Jag says
Hi Nagi, is it possible to do this in a slow cooker? Sounds amazing!!