Massaman Curry

By Jessica

Massaman Curry is Southern Thai curry that has a profound use of dried aromatics, like cardamom, cumin, bay leaves and cinnamon. I first had this dish at Thai Square in London, where it's one of the vegetarian options on their menu, but it's traditionally done with meats: chicken, beef or duck but likely not pork (Massaman is actually from an old way of saying Muslim and many Muslims won't eat pork).

Many recipes recommend starting with a purchased Massaman Curry paste and adding additional items like coconut milk, fish sauce, peanuts, tamarind and spices. Like this one (a meat version) from The Very Hungry Cook. Not having found the paste at my local store, I made an approximate recipe starting with a red curry paste and then adding cardamom, cumin, cinnamon, corriander seeds, cumin seeds and ginger. I also steeped some whole mustard seeds into the coconut milk along with the red curry paste and spices. I combined it with a veggie mix and served it over jasmine rice that I also cooked in coconut milk.

Massaman Curry is like the perfect combination of Indian food and Thai food, if you ever are in a restaurant and see it on the menu, I definitely recommend giving it a shot.

{Photo credit: The Very Hungry Cook}

Comments

[Tonguelash]

massaman curry is my favorite. my thai friends makes it with carrots, potatoes, onions.

[Darcey]

Curry Simple makes great curry sauces, and don't require adding anything but your protein and veggies. They are definitely the closest store-bought items I've found to match my favorite Thai restaurant.