Massaman curry
A rich, mild coconut curry fragrant with cardamom, cinnamon and clove, with beef or chicken, potatoes and peanuts, sweet and sour with palm sugar and tamarind.
What makes it massaman curry
- Dried spices — cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin — in the paste, alongside the Thai aromatics.
- Coconut milk, palm sugar, tamarind and fish sauce: rich, sweet, sour and salty.
- Potatoes and roasted peanuts, with meat braised until tender.
Where it comes from
Massaman carries Thailand's old trade with the Muslim world: its dried spices are the ones Persian, Indian and Malay merchants brought. The name is often said to come from an old word for Muslim, and the curry is still closely tied to Thailand's Muslim communities, many of them in the south.
It's also praised in a poem attributed to King Rama II, of the early nineteenth century, which is why it's called a court dish as often as a southern one. Both may be true.
How it varies
- Massaman neua
- With beef, braised long.
- Massaman gai
- With chicken on the bone.
Be the first here
Start your own massaman curryNo one here has made massaman curry yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.
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