Massaman Curry

Assemble the aromatics (garlic, ginger, lemongrass, sweet onion, red bell pepper, and coconut oil). Chop them into large chunks (you just need them small enough to make them manageable for your blender). The only exception here is the ginger. Dice the ginger to ensure you don’t end up with “string-y” fibers after blending.

Add the aromatics to the blender, and puree until relatively smooth (it doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth). Be sure to ventilate as blending onions can be intense.

Assemble the dry spices and pre-heat a heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat. When the pot is warm, add the coconut oil and spices and toast the spices in the oil for 10 seconds. Then add the blended aromatics to the pot. Cover the pot, and sauté for about 20 minutes over medium heat. You will know this phase is finished when the mixture has thickened into a paste and turned from rather bright red to a rich orange-brown.

Add the remaining sauce ingredients (coconut milk, peanut butter, coconut sugar, salt, water) as well as the sweet potatoes and chickpeas. Cover and let simmer for 40 minutes or until sweet potatoes are very tender.

While the curry simmers, make the dumpling dough. Pulse the corn in a blender (or mash it with a fork) until the kernels are about half broken down. Then combine all the dumpling ingredients in a small bowl, and mix well. Do not worry about over-mixing, just be sure the baking powder and spices are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Once the sweet potatoes are cooked through, mix the sweet corn and spinach into the curry, form the dumplings into 7-8 balls and place them on top of the curry. Cover the pot again and let the curry continue to simmer lightly (medium heat is best on my stove) for 20-23 minutes. The dumplings are finished when they are a little moist but firm to the touch. When they are done, remove the curry from the heat.

Garnish with plenty of chopped fresh cilantro to serve.