Gardner Villa: Gaeng Masaman (Curry Masaman)

Gaeng Masaman (Curry Masaman)

Tuesday, March 02, 2010 by Diana

My younger brother Dallin, who went on his mission to Thailand, gave me this recipe for Thai Curry. He made it for us once when he came up for a visit and I fell in love instantly. He noticed the affection I had for it and sent a little care package to us for Christmas with all the ingredients (minus the perishables). I will add pictures of some of the ingredients in case you're wondering exactly what to look for when you head out tomorrow (or later today) to go buy them.

Now, prepare to be blown away with utter heaven-in-your-mouth yumminess ...

Gaeng Masaman (Curry Masaman)

Ingredients:

1- 19 oz. can coconut milk (see pic below)
1/2 can water
1/4 cup Masman paste (add more if you like it more spicy)
1/2 cup peanuts (I tried it with dry-roasted too and it was yum)
1/4 cup fish sauce (see pic below)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of Knorr chicken broth powder mix (I used McCormick chicken base from Costco instead since it was already open in my fridge)(see pic below)
4-5 potatoes (cubed into about 1" pieces)
1 yellow onion (I used white, since that's what I prefer) (cut into about 1" squares or however you prefer)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or chunks of soft beef)
1/4 teaspoon salt (I didn't add any and it was perfect!)

Pour coconut milk and water into a pot and bring to a slight boil, then reduce heat to simmer.
Mix in curry paste. ***tip: you can take some of the coconut milk mixture and mix it into the Masman paste to ensure it is all dissolved.
Add the peanuts to soften them up a bit.
Add fish sauce, sugar and chicken broth powder to mixture.
At this point, taste the curry and if it's too milky, put a little more water in it. Add more sugar to soften the taste a bit if needed (you'll know what I mean), but not too much (you don't want it to taste like candy now!). If you need it more salty, add a little more fish sauce to taste. If it's not spicy enough, add more Masman paste.
Once you have the taste how you like it, add the potatoes and onions to the mix (I added carrots too)
Bring the heat up to medium/high.
Slice the chicken into about 1/4" thick slices and about 1 1/2" long. Add to mixture and let simmer on medium/high until the chicken pieces are cooked through (I think it took about 10 minutes).
Turn heat to medium/low and keep cooking until your vegetables are to your desired tenderness.