Massaman curry has a mild tasty flavour and is traditionally used for long slow cooking using beef or lamb.
The paste, which I don’t make myself, contains lemongrass, tamarind, garlic, coriander and a whole heap of spices, giving layers of flavour rather than searing heat that you’d expect from some other types of Thai food.
This version is vegan and uses cauliflower, roasted butternut squash and courgette as well as potato to fill you up and provide sustenance and keep that autumn chill out. This will feed four hungry people and probably provide you with a portion or two to keep in the fridge or freezer.
Cauli Massaman
Print RecipeIngredients
- 1 cauliflower broken into pieces
- Half a butternut squash, roasted. I just happened to have some in the fridge leftover from a previous meal. If you can’t be bothered to roast it just for this recipe, don’t worry. Just chuck it in as it comes, without the seeds.
- 1 courgette
- 3 or 4 potatoes
- Massaman curry paste. You can buy this at all good supermarkets or order online. The brand I use is called Mae Ploy
- 400ml tin of coconut milk
- Vegetable stock cube
- (Optional) Nuts - cashews or almonds
- Rice - you can use any rice you fancy with this. If you want to be authentic, Thai sticky rice, or Jasmine rice. I used Basmati for this because it’s what I had in the cupboard.
Instructions
- Get the biggest cooking vessel you own. It could be a wok or a high-sided frying pan or a saucepan, as long as it can contain all of your veg and the stock, it’s no big deal.
- Put it on a medium heat and add a small splash (about a tablespoon) of sunflower or rapeseed oil. Allow it to become hot and then add a squirt of massaman curry paste. I use about a tablespoon because that’s how hot I like my curry, but you can add more or less depending on your own palate. Remember, it’s easier to add a bit more than try and damp down the flavour if it’s making your tongue burn.
- When the paste starts to sizzle, add a splash of coconut milk to loosen the paste. Stir it round the pan for about 20 seconds and then tip in the chopped cauliflower, the courgette, the potato and the squash. Let the paste coat the veg and push it round the pan for a couple of minutes before adding the rest of the coconut milk and the stock cube.
- Let this come to the boil, then turn down the heat so it’s very gently simmering and put on a lid, if your pan has one.
- Leave it to cook for 20-25 minutes and then check if the potato and the cauliflower are soft enough to squish with a fork. If they are not, cook it for five more minutes and check again. Keep cooking until the vegetables are soft. Massaman should have plenty of sauce so if it looks a little dry, add more liquid.
- At this point I tend to leave the whole thing, with a lid on, on top of the stove to cool down. It’s a good dish to cook ahead of time because the flavours improve if you can leave it for a while.
- When you come back to it, scoop out half of the curry and using a liquidiser or stick blender, roughly blend half it and then add back the rest of the vegetables.
- To serve, make sure it’s piping hot and eat with whichever rice you prefer.
