Cheats Beef Massaman Curry

Cheats Beef Massaman Curry

• 1 jar of store bought massaman curry paste
• 500g cubed stewing/braising steak
• 1 400g tin of coconut milk
• 1 large potato peeled and cut into medium sized cubes
• 60g unsalted peanuts
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• Small sprinkle of chopped coriander
• White rice
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

In a casserole dish heat the vegetable oil, add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened then add the beef and brown all over.  Add the jar of curry paste, coconut milk and peanuts, stir together and  then put into a preheated oven (160 degrees) and cook for 3 hours until the meat is tender.  Check on the curry after each hour and stir, you don’t want the sauce to dry up completely, if needed add some water but you probably won't need to do that until nearing the end of cooking. 

After the curry has been cooking for 2 hours, bring a pan of water to the boil, add some salt and boil the potatoes for around 7 minutes, it needs to be on the verge of having cooked but not too soft that they fall apart, drain and set aside.  After 2.5 hours add the potatoes to the curry, stir through and cook for the remaining 30 minutes.  Serve with white rice (cooked according to packet instructions) and a garnish of chopped coriander.

Not everything has to be cooked from scratch to be delicious, and this is a prime example. If you find a good sauce packed with flavour then why not use it?  That said, there is something satisfying about making a curry from scratch!  We both really enjoyed this, the peanuts gave a nice bit of flavour and texture to the dish, very hearty and definitely hit the spot.  Have to say on the jar it suggested 20g of peanuts but that isn’t a lot hence I used 60g!

Do you have a tried and tested sauce that you use, then let me know?