Thai Masaman Chicken, "gaeng Masaman Gai"

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken, cut into the usual bite sized pieces (you can also use pork or beef)
• 3 cups coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted dry roasted peanuts
• 5 peeled peeled but whole small onion
• 5 small potatoes, peeled and partly boiled
• 3 bay leaves
• 5 cardamom seeds
• 1 small cinnamon stick, roasted
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste, mixed with
• 2 1/2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2-3 tablespoons masaman curry paste
• 1-3 teaspoon garlic, crushed. (optional)

Directions

1. 1

   Peel potatoes, boil them partly in a cooking pot for 10-15 minutes, and cut in 1 to 2-inch pieces.

2. 2

   Allow the coconut milk to separate and you will have about two cups of thick "cream" and one cup of

3. 3

   thin "milk". In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer and add the chicken or pork. If you are

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   using beef you will need another two cups of milk. Simmer the meat until it begins to become tender

5. 5

   (beef takes longer, hence the additional milk).

6. 6

   Put the coconut cream in a wok and bring to a boil, add the massaman paste and "stir fry" until the

7. 7

   flavor is brought out and maximized. Add the remaining cream and curry paste to the meat.

8. 8

   Add the peanuts. Taste and adjust the flavor until it is (just) sweet (by adding sugar), sour and salty

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   (by adding tamarind juice, lime juice and fish sauce).

10. 10

    Add the remaining ingredients and cook until cooked.

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    Note : the potatoes used in Thailand for this dish are a yellow fleshed sweet potato of the type sometimes

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    called a yam in the US. Western style potatoes can be used, but absorb less of the sauce and flavor.

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    The potatoes act as a "moderator" to reduce the heat of the curry, and should not be left out.

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    You can either serve it on a bed of Thai jasmine rice, or double the amount of potato and serve it alone.