Cooks Illustrated has more and more recipes that can be adapted to fit "special diets." This one, for simplified Massaman Curry, was absolutely superb. The curry paste was a huge pain in the rear, but I made 4x the recipe and froze leftovers for later. That turned subsequent dinners into (nearly) Fast Food.
Curry Paste:
6 dried New Mexico chiles
4 shallots, unpeeled
7 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 c. chopped fresh ginger
1/4 c. water
4.5 tsp. lime juice
4.5 tsp. coconut oil
1 T. fish sauce (no sugar added)
1 tsp. five-spice powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. pepper
Curry:
1 tsp. coconut oil
1.25 c. chicken broth
1 can coconut milk, or the equivalent homemade (or use coconut butter + water)
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, unpeeled, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 onion, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/3 cup soaked/dehydrated/chopped almonds (traditionally peanuts)
3/4 tsp. salt
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tsp. grated lime zest
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
For the Curry Paste:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Arrange chiles on prepared sheet and toast until puffed and fragrant, 4-6 minutes. Transfer chiles to large plate. Heat broiler.
Place shallots and garlic on foil-lined sheet and broil until softened and skin is charred, 6-9 minutes.
When cool enough to handle, stem and seed chiles and tear into 1.5-inch pieces. Process chiles in blender until finely ground, about 1 minute. Peel shallots and garlic. Add shallots, garlic, ginger, water, lime juice, oil, fish sauce, five-spice powder, cumin, and pepper to blender. Process to smooth paste, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed, 2-3 minutes. You should have about 1 cup of paste.
For the Curry:
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste and cook, stirring constantly, until paste begins to brown, 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth, coconut milk, potatoes, onion, nuts, and salt, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until potatoes are just tender, 12-14 minutes.
Stir in chicken and continue to simmer until chicken is cooked through, 10-12 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and stir in lime zest and cilantro.
Serve over Jasmine rice, with additional cilantro if desired.