Name: Chicken Massaman Curry
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: FOR THE PASTE; 1 tbsp coriander seeds; 11⁄2 tbsp cumin seeds; 5 whole cloves; 1 tbsp black peppercorns; 1 whole nutmeg; Seeds from 6 green cardamom pods; 5cm (2in) piece of cinnamon stick; 6 to 12 dried red bird’s eye chillies, soaked in water for 30 minutes and then cut into small pieces; 8 garlic cloves, smashed; 4 small shallots, thinly sliced; 1 long lemongrass stalk (white part only), thinly sliced; 1 thumb-sized piece of galangal, sliced into thin rounds; Zest of 1⁄2 lime; 3 makrut lime leaves (fresh or frozen); 1 tsp shrimp paste; FOR THE CURRY; 900g (2 lbs) chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces; 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces; 400ml ( 1 3/4 cups) thick coconut milk; 1 red onion, quartered; Handful of roasted peanuts; 500ml (2 cups) water or unsalted chicken stock; 1 tbsp palm sugar; 1 tsp tamarind sauce; 3 tbsp Thai fish sauce; Thai holy basil, to garnish

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Chicken Massaman Curry is one of the easiest and most delicious Thai curries.

In the west, chicken massaman is not nearly as well known as beef massaman. This hugely popular curry actaully started as a chicken curry and chicken is still the most popular option in Thailand. That surprised me when I was there but there is good reason for this. All is explained below. You are going to love this very authentic, on pan, sweet, sour and spicy massaman chicken curry.

This can be made much quicker than beef Massaman and it’s just as delicious.

The origins of chicken massaman curry…

Unlike other Thai curries, massaman curries were first cooked by muslim Indian immigrants to Thailand using both Indian spices and Thai cooking techniques.

Chicken was the preferred meat in this curry due to muslim dietary requirements. Halal chicken was much easier to come by than lamb and beef, so that’s what they used.

You’ll find that many Indian spices are used in chicken Massaman. Other Thai pastes use many more chillies and aromatics. Although many chefs do use more dried chillies in their massaman paste, this is considered one of the milder curries in the west.

About the Massaman paste…

Just as I explained in my cookbook ‘The Curry Guy Thai’, you will get much better results if you make your Thai curry pastes from scratch.

Traditionally, Thai spice pastes were pounded in a pestle and mortar which ideally is still the best option. The problem with that is that it takes 40 to 60 minutes to pound all those ingredients into a paste.

Modern chefs blend the ingredients which only takes a couple of minutes.

What if I don’t want to make my own massaman curry paste?

Purchasing Thai Massaman paste is cheating! No, really, it is quite convenient and from time to time I cheat too.

You need to be careful when adding brand name Thai curry pastes though. Many are really spice and salty. The saltiness of some pastes can quickly ruin a curry.

My massaman curry paste below, which is all used in this curry, makes a lot more than you would ever add of a brand name paste. So if using a brand name curry paste such as Mae Ploy, I recommend using only a couple of tablespoons. You can always add more later in cooking to taste.

Where To Find Massaman Curry Paste

You will find all the popular Thai curry pastes at most Asian grocers. They are also available online. I have even seen some at major supermarkets as Thai food is really popular. I use Mae Ploy when not making my own. I really hope you make your own though.

Can Chicken Massaman curry be frozen?

Although the answer is yes, I find that curries with coconut milk in them don’t freeze all that well. If you make your own curry paste, however, that freezes really well.

Sometimes I double or triple the massaman curry paste recipe and freeze what I don’t use. Do that and you can whip up this chicken massaman curry whenever you want in minutes.

Can I use something besides chicken?

You bet! Prawns and beef are both really nice. Here is my beef massaman recipe. You can also make it vegetarian by adding the fresh seasonal vegetables of your choice to cook through at the end of cooking

Other ways of making this chicken massaman curry your own…

Yes. You can adjust the paste ingredients to taste, adding fewer or more chillies for example.

At the end of cooking, sugar, fish sauce and tamarind are added. The sweet, salty and sour flavours of these ingredients can also be adjusted by adding more or less of each.

Step by step chicken massaman photographs…

Get all your ingredients together before you start cooking. It’s easier that way.

If making the homemade massaman paste, toast the whole spices until warm and fragrant but not yet smoking.

Allow to cool some and the grind into a fine powder.

Blend the spice powder with the other paste ingredients until smooth. You might need to add water to assist in blending.

Heat your wok over medium high heat and add two tbsp thick coconut milk. You will see the coconut oil separate.

Stir the peanuts and quartered red onion in and move it all around with your spoon.

Adding the massaman curry paste to the wok

Now stir in the prepared paste or about 2 tbsp of shop bought paste and fry for about 30 seconds.

Add the potato pieces and about 250ml (1 cup) water or chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are about 80% cooked through.

Add the chicken and another 250ml (1 cup) water to stock.

Cook for about 12 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are soft.

To finish, stir in the remaining coconut milk, the fish sauce, tamarind sauce and lime juice.

Serve garnished with Thai basil and a few slices of red chilli.

If you like this chicken massaman curry, you might like to try some of these Thai recipes too…

Thai green chicken curry
Thai red curry
Beef Massaman curry
Jungle curry
Panang curry
Thai green beef curry

Yield: 4