Ingredients
Serves 16
100ml peanut or vegetable oil
550g Mussamen curry paste
100g palm sugar
100ml fish sauce
1 litre coconut cream
1 litre water or chicken stock
4 star anise
5cm cassia bark or cinnamon sticks
6 cardamom pods
3½ kg chicken thigh meat, trimmed of fat and cut in half
600g purple shallots, peeled
1kg potato, peeled and diced 6-8cm chunks
1 kg sweet potato, peeled and diced as above
100ml tamarind water
200g roasted, unsalted peanuts
4 kaffir lime leaves
100ml coconut cream
50g crushed peanuts
Method
Heat the oil in a heavy based pot or wok. Add the curry paste and cook for several minutes to enhance the aroma from the spices in the paste. Add the palm sugar and stir through until the sugar dissolves. Add the fish sauce and mix until combined.
Add the coconut cream, water (or stock), star anise, cassia bark and cardamom pods then simmer until the sauce thickens and reduces by half.
With the sauce simmering add the chicken pieces, potato, shallots and peanuts and set to cook gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Finish the curry by stirring in the tamarind water.
To serve - Serve the curry with steamed jasmine rice and garnish with a drizzle of coconut cream, finely shredded kaffir lime leaves and a sprinkle of crushed nuts.