The other day, I was talking to some colleagues about how this very blog came about – that it was basically a way that I could share recipes with my friends I’d lived on campus with (and hence cooked for). One of the very first recipes that I had posted was my Mussaman curry recipe.

And then I realised in the move from Blogger to WordPress that it was, in fact, GONE…

Never fear, today, I re-publish this delicious Mussaman curry recipe. And I actually have some photos!

Recipe: Massaman curry

• 6 sun-dried chillies
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 5 cloves
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon white peppercorns
• 100 ml coconut cream
• 1 kaffir lime
• 5 cm piece of galangal
• 4 sticks of lemongrass
• 20 cloves of garlic
• 5 pieces of coriander root , or ½ a bunch of fresh coriander stalks
• 10 small shallots
• ½ tablespoon shrimp paste
• 1 handful of unsalted peanuts
• 500 g beef chuck
• 1 x 400 ml tin of coconut milk
• 1 onion
• 4 potatoes
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce , plus extra to serve
• 2 teaspoons palm sugar
• vegetable oil

To make the paste, toast the chillies in a wok on a medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Pound in a pestle and mortar with 2 teaspoons of sea salt until fine.

Toast the coriander seeds, cloves, fennel seeds and white peppercorns in the wok for 3 minutes on a low heat. Tip into your pestle and mortar with the chillies, add 1 tablespoon of coconut cream and pound to a paste.

Peel the lime zest, then finely chop the rind and pound with the chillies.

Peel and finely slice the galangal, trim the lemongrass, discarding the tough outer layer, and finely chop. Peel the garlic, wash and chop the coriander roots or stalks, and peel and finely slice the shallots (setting aside a large handful of sliced shallots for later). Char your chopped ingredients in a hot wok over a high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

Scrape the paste and charred ingredients into a food processor with a little extra coconut cream and blitz until smooth.

Add the shrimp paste to the wok, fry it off for 1 minute, then blitz with your curry paste until combined. (You now have enough paste for another 5 or 6 curries).

To make the curry, toast the peanuts in a dry wok for 3 to 4 minutes or until golden, then set aside.

Roughly chop the meat into 4cm chunks.

Put your wok back on a medium heat and add 75ml coconut cream and 2 heaped tablespoons of the curry paste. Give it a good stir and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes.

Tip in the beef, peanuts and coconut milk, and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat to low, cover, and leave to tick away for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Peel and roughly chop the onion, then peel the potatoes and chop into 3cm chunks. Add to the wok, along with the fish sauce and palm sugar, then give everything a good stir. Cover and continue cooking for 25 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and the potato is soft, adding a splash of boiling water to loosen, if necessary. Have a taste and season with a little more fish sauce, if needed.

Have you ever whipped up a recipe from my blog? I would love for you to let me know…So I don’t feel as if I am just writing all this stuff down for nothing… If you choose to whip up one of my recipes , then I would love for you to share it on social media, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #goodfoodweek.