A quick and easy but still authentic Thai chicken massaman that you can knock up for dinner in about 30 minutes - about as long as it takes to cook the jasmine rice!
Heat a skillet and add the coriander and cumin seeds. Toast in the dry pan until the seeds just start to jump.
Tip the seeds out into a mortar and grind with a pestle until you have a mixed spice powder neither coarse nor fine.
Add in the shop-bought massaman paste and stir together with the pestle until thoroughly mixed together. Voila - a quick and much improved massaman paste
Preparing the Chicken & Potatoes
Remove the skin if you prefer, and cut around the chicken thighs with a sharp knife to remove the bone.
Chop the chicken meat into bite sized pieces. If you cut into thinner slices then the chicken will cook much quicker than if cut into thicker pieces. Thin pieces also taste better because there is more surface area to absorb the massaman sauce!
Peel the potatoes and chop into bite sized pieces about an inch thick and set aside in a bowl of water.
Cooking the Massaman Curry
Add half the coconut milk into the pan you toasted the spice seeds in and bring to a boil, immediately reducing the heat medium high for a fast simmer.
Add the massaman paste and stir thoroughly to incorporate through the coconut milk and continue cookign for a minute or two until you see the oil from the massaman paste start to separate from the milk.
Add the remainder of the coconut milk and stir.
Add the palm sugar and cardomon pods and tamarind paste and about half the fish sauce and stir to dissolve the sugar and mix in the ingredients.Then add the bay leaves and taste. Adjust the sugar and fish sauce to get your desired taste.
Add in the chicken and the potato pieces and stir in. Cover the pan and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes give minimal resistance to being prodded witha fork.
Optional Potato Nests
Fried potato nests are a nice addition to this dish. Simply shred potato, arrange and fry in hot oil until golden brown.
Some Thai people prefer to eat the dish minus the potato, eating extra rice instead. Omitting the potato from this massaman curry recipe does not affect the overall flavor.You can swap out the chicken for pork, beef or shrimp but if using seafood and potatoes then cook the potoates for about 15 minutes before adding in the shrimp as it needs little time to cook through.