Curry

Massaman Curry

Cooking Lesson – Massaman Curry (มัสมั่น)

Massaman Curry is a relatively mild, but rich Thai curry which is actually a Thai interpretation of a Persian dish. You can find is as well on many menus written as Matsaman, Mussulman or even Muslim Curry since it is believed that the name refers to the Muslims.
Where the dish really originates from is disputed. Some think it is coming from Central Thailand, namely the court of Ayutthaya. Others believe that it is a Southern Thai dish, influenced by Malay and Indian cuisine.
The most common variety of Massaman Curry is Massaman Curry Chicken with other varieties being beef, duck, mutton and goat. Porc is not very often used, since it is “haram”, meaning forbidden, for muslims.
The Massaman Curry paste is quite different to the other common curry pastes in the Thai cuisine. This is due to the use of rather non typical spices in the paste like Cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, star anise, bay leaves, nutmeg and mace. These ingredients came from the Malay Archipelago and South Asia, a trade route dominated at the time by Muslim traders from the middle east. These ingredients were then combined with local produce spices which are used in the other Thai curry pastes like dried chili peppers, lemongrass, coriander seeds, shrimp paste, galangal, white pepper, shallots and garlic.
If you are a curry fan check out our other curry recipes like Phanaeng Curry, Green Curry and Yellow Curry. If you did the cooking class with Joy you should be able to prepare them after the recipe shown.

Print Recipe
Massaman Curry
Cooking Lesson: Ingredients Massaman Curry
Cuisine Thai
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cuisine Thai
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings
people
Ingredients
Cooking Lesson: Ingredients Massaman Curry
Instructions
  1. Heat up the oil in a suitable pan or wok
  2. Add onions and potatoes and fry them until the onions are soft
    potatoes and onions
  3. Add the curry paste and mix it all up
  4. Add the chicken cubes and keep stirring
    Added Curry paste and chicken
  5. Add some of the coconut milk (200ml)
    Add the coconut milk
  6. Add salt and some water until everything is covered.
    Add water and salt
  7. Bring to boil and simmer it until the potatoes are cooked - if necessary add more water and coconut milk
    Cook until potatoes are soft
Soup

Tom Kha

Cooking Class Recipe – Tom Kha (ต้มข่า)

The recipe for this cooking class is the most common variety of Tom Kha, which is Tom Kha Gai, or Chicken Galangal Soup.

In case you already had a look at our Tom Yum cooking class recipe you know that Tom (ต้ม) means “cooked” in Thai language. Kha (ข่า) means Galangal, as well known as Thai Ginger of Galgant. But this is not what most foreigners remember when they have eaten this famous Thai dish. It is the creamy coconut milk which is the base for this soup. The coconut milk softens the heat of the spices and gives you a nice afterburn in the throat.
Now let’s go to the hands on experience with the recipe for this cooking class:

Print Recipe
Tom Kha
Tom Kha Gai
Servings
Ingredients
Servings
Ingredients
Tom Kha Gai
Instructions
  1. Ingredients for one shown on a plate: Chicken, mushrooms, baby corn, carrots, kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, lime, galangal, cherry tomatoes, garlic, red onions
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
  2. Add coconut milk to a sufficient sized pot.
  3. Add the galangal, chopped lemon grass, chopped onion, baby corn, carrots, garlic and some water.
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
  4. Bring to boil.
  5. Add sugar, salt, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes and the rest of the coconut milk.
    Cooking Class Tom Kha
  6. Boil until chicken is cooked and add kaffir lime leaves, spring onions, black pepper, lime juice and if you like some coriander
    Cooking Class Tom Kha