My Beef Massaman Curry

Serves 10-12
 Massaman curry is a sweet, mild Thai curry. It’s very popular and for good reason, it’s delicious. It is also often used with lamb; however beef is also popular and more readily available (in Australia anyway). Here’s my version….enjoy!!

Ingredients
2 kg chuck beef steak, cut into cubes (2cm)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons garam masala spice blend
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 brown onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
6 tablespoons Massaman curry paste*
3 x 400ml tin coconut milk/cream
200ml water
2 tablespoons beef stock powder
2 teaspoons tamarind paste/puree*
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons palm sugar*or brown sugar
800g chat potatoes, cut into chunks
300g sweet potatoes, peeled cut into chunks
4 tablespoons roasted peanuts, roughly chopped

Method
Toss the beef in the cinnamon and garam masala. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add the beef in batches and cook, turning to cook other side. Add remaining oil to the pan, reduce heat to medium, then sauté the onions and garlic for about 3 minutes, stirring until softened. Add curry paste and stir for a minute until fragrant. Add coconut milk, stock, tamarind, fish sauce and sugar and bring to the boil. Place everything (including potato and sweet potato), into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-7 hours, until beef is tender and vegetables are cooked through. Garnish with chopped peanuts, serve with rice.
Fancy; peel some sweet potato strips, (not the skin), and deep fry in about 1 cup of sizzling hot oil. Add a handful at a time (too few and the crisps will cook too quickly and blacken instead of turning golden); stand back for any splattering of oil due to water content in potato. Serve as a fancy garnish with chopped peanuts.

*From Asian food shops or in the Asian section of supermarket