Massaman Curry Paste (2024)

This Massaman Curry paste is a wonderfully rich but relatively mild curry paste that is easy to make at home.

Homemade curry pastes are so much fresher and so much tastier than store bought pastes. And you are control of the heat!!!!

This Massaman blend is packed with flavor and uses easy to find grocery store ingredients!

What is massaman curry?

Massaman curry is a Thai curry, but unlike most other Thai dishes it contains ingredients not associated with Thai cooking (cumin, cinnamon, cardamon, fennel etc).It is packed with flavor but isn't known as a spicy curry.

Food historians think that the curry was created when Persian spice merchants introduced these different spices into Thailand. And some people believe that at one point the curry was calledMussulman curry, where Mussulman translates to Muslim Man, adding credence to the theory that the spices and original dish are Persian (Iranian) in origins.

That is one of the reasons that you will rarely see a pork massaman curry. Pork is a forbidden meat within Islam, so it would not be used in this dish. Traditionally massaman curries are made with chicken, and I have a slightly different massaman chicken recipe here on Sprinkles and Sprouts. I roasted the chicken whole with the curry paste! Look at the beautiful crust!!!

Ingredients in massaman curry paste

The ingredient list for this seems long, but please don't be scared away. Everything can be bought in the supermarket. And if you are a regular curry maker then most of the ingredients are store cupboard ingredients.

For this massaman curry paste you will need:

• Dried red chillies
• Kaffir lime leaf(dried or fresh)
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Fresh ginger
• Lemongrass
• Oil(vegetable/sunflower/canola)
• Coriander seeds*
• Cumin seeds*
• Fennel seeds*
• Cardamon pods*
• Nutmeg
• Ground cinnamon
• Ground cloves
• Turmeric
• Ground white pepper
• Brown sugar/palm sugar
• Cilantro with roots
• Salt
• Thai shrimp paste

*If you can only buy ground spices, then you can still make this curry paste, you just need to miss a couple of steps 😀

How to make massaman curry paste

To make the curry paste the chilies, shallots, garlic and ginger are roasted in the oven to bring out the oils and give them a wonderful nutty flavor.

The whole spices are dry fried in a hot pan, so they become toasty and start smelling amazing. (Note: If you can't find whole spices then you can make this with already ground spices. I have included quantities for that in the recipe notes)

These spices are then ground to a powder and along with the roasted vegetables mixed in a food processor (or pestle and mortar) with the other spices and aromats unit a thick paste is achieved.

How long will homemade curry paste last?

This curry paste will keep for about a month in the refrigerator or in the freezer for a year.

If you freeze tablespoon dollops on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Then when they are frozen transfer them to a ziplock bag. That way the curry paste is all measured out for you and you can just grab as many tablespoons as you need and leave the rest in the freezer.

Enjoy x

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