Rezept

Massaman: Mild curry with beef and peanuts

Massaman is Thailand’s mildest and warmest curry, characterized by cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg from Persian trade. Slow-cooked with beef, potatoes, and peanuts, it makes for a perfect dish for cold days.

3 Min. Lesezeit

Massaman: Mildes Curry mit Rindfleisch und Erdnüssen

Massaman bears its origin in its name, in Thai พริกแกงมัสมั่น: It traces back to "Mussulman," the old term for Muslims. In the 17th century, Persian merchants brought spices to the court of Ayutthaya that were previously unknown in Thailand, such as cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.

From this emerged a curry that stands out from all others: mild, warmly spiced, with a sweetness that comes from the spices rather than sugar. Classically, it is slow-cooked for a long time with beef, potatoes, and peanuts, almost like a European stew with a Thai touch.

Cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and galangal are already in the paste, along with lemongrass and coriander seeds. What remains to be added is manageable: an affordable cut of beef for stewing, potatoes, peanuts, and coconut milk.

  • 4servings
  • 70 min.preparation
  • 2/5on the THAANI scale

Shopping list

What else you need

  • 1 jar THAANI Massaman curry paste (3 tbsp for this recipe)
  • 500 g beef shoulder or neck, cubed
  • 300 g potatoes, in coarse chunks
  • 400 ml full-fat coconut milk
  • 200 ml water or beef broth
  • 50 g roasted peanuts
  • 1 small onion, sliced into wedges
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp tamarind paste or juice of one lime
  • 1 tsp palm sugar
  • 300 g jasmine rice

Preparation

  1. Sear the meat. Sear the beef in a heavy pot without fat until browned, then remove. This creates roasted aromas that end up in the sauce later.
  2. Fry the paste. In the same pot, heat 1 tbsp of oil and fry the curry paste for two minutes until it is very fragrant.
  3. Deglaze and stew. Return the meat to the pot, add the coconut milk and water, bring to a boil, then cover and stew over low heat for 45 minutes until the meat begins to soften.
  4. Add the potatoes. Add the potatoes and onion, and simmer for another 20 minutes until the meat and potatoes are tender.
  5. Season to taste. Stir in the fish sauce, tamarind, and palm sugar, taste, and sprinkle with peanuts.
  6. Serve. Serve with jasmine rice, ideally hot and straight from the pot.
Massaman is about patience, not technique. The longer it simmers covered, the more tender the meat becomes and the more well-rounded the spices.

Variations and tips

  • Using chicken instead of beef: reduce the stewing time to 25 minutes, as chicken becomes tender much faster.
  • Vegetarian version: use firm tofu and pumpkin, adding both only in the last 15 minutes without a long stewing time.
  • If you prefer it sweeter, add a little more palm sugar at the end, in small increments.
  • For more crunch, sprinkle extra whole peanuts on top when serving instead of simmering them in the curry.

Once opened, the paste will keep in the refrigerator at +2 to +6 °C, best covered with a thin layer of oil. Massaman is one of those curries that tastes even better on the second day because the spices infuse into the meat overnight. One jar makes about 10 portions of curry, which is about two and a half times this recipe.