Pastes and wet masalas
Massaman curry paste
A mild, warmly spiced Thai paste with cardamom, cinnamon and cumin, reflecting trade links.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for cooks, makers and the curious.
Massaman is a Thai curry with warm, dry spices that are less common in other Thai pastes. These include cardamom, cinnamon, clove and cumin. The dish is often linked to the southern provinces and to historic trade with Muslim merchants.
What goes in
- Dried red chilli424%, Mild heat.
- Coriander seed318%, Toasted.
- Cumin212%, Toasted.
- Cardamom212%, Perfume.
- Cinnamon16%, Sweet.
- Clove16%, Pungent.
- Lemongrass212%, Fragrance.
- Galangal212%, Pine and citrus.
Parts by volume of the whole spice. The ring shows each part's share.
Made step by step
Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Ratios and timings differ from house to house; this is one traditional-style way.
Step 1: Toast Dry toast the coriander, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon and clove. Step 2: Grind Grind the toasted spices to a powder. Step 3: Pound Soak the chillies and pound them with salt. Step 4: Pound Add lemongrass, galangal, shallot and garlic and pound. Step 5: Blend Work in the ground spices to make one paste. Step 6: Bloom Fry in coconut cream until fragrant. Step 7: Store Store refrigerated in a jar. Finished Massaman curry paste, by share.
Origins
The name is often explained as meaning Muslim. Its origins are discussed, with Persian and Malay trade influence frequently mentioned, and exact history is not settled.
Cooking
The paste is fried in coconut cream, then cooked with beef, chicken or tofu, potato, onion and peanuts, and balanced with tamarind and palm sugar.
Where it is used
The spices in it
CardamomDry spice.
CinnamonSweet.
CuminWarm.
Chili pepperThe pungent berry of the Capsicum plant, used to add heat to dishes worldwide.
CorianderThe leaves and dried seeds of an annual Mediterranean herb used in cuisines worldwide.
CloveThe dried flower bud of a tropical tree, prized for its intense warmth and numbing bite.GalangalThe pungent rhizome of the ginger family, essential to Southeast Asian soups and pastes.More on EveryMasala
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Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryMasala desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are an illustrative, traditional-style ratio, not a standard: every family and maker blends differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Clove: Bayu Nugroho, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chili pepper: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cinnamon: Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cumin: Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cardamom: Didier Descouens, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Coriander: Thamizhpparithi Maari, CC BY-SA 3.0, source