Massaman curry

Massaman curry (, , ) is a rich, flavourful, and mildly spicy Thai curry.David Thompson, Thai Food (edition 2010), Pavilion Books, pages 329, Kindersley, D. (2011). DK Eyewitness Travel: Ultimate Food Journeys The World's Best Dishes and Where to Eat Them. New York: DK Publishing. p. 252. It is a fusion dish, combining foreign ingredients from three regions — Persia, India, and the Malay Archipelago (e.g., cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cumin, bay leaves, nutmeg, and mace) — with ingredients more commonly used in native Thai cuisine (e.g., chili peppers, coriander, lemongrass, galangal, white pepper, shrimp paste, shallots, and garlic) to make massaman curry paste. The substance of the dish is usually based on chicken, potatoes, onions, and peanuts. The richness comes from the coconut milk and cream used as a base, as for many Thai curries.

Description This curry is most commonly made with chicken, but there are also variations on this dish using duck, beef, venison, mutton, goat. Pork is sometimes used, but is rare due to the dish's Muslim roots and the fact that pork is haram (forbidden) in Islam. Correspondingly, this last variant is not eaten in the present-day by observant Thai Muslims. Vegetarians and vegans have created their own versions of this dish, such as using tofu and substituting any shrimp paste or fish sauce used.

The Muslim roots of the dish are evident in many of the flavors of the massaman curry paste (nam phrik kaeng matsaman) that come from spices not frequently used in other Thai curries. Cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cumin, bay leaves, nutmeg and mace would, in the 17th century, have been brought to Thailand from the Malay Archipelago and South Asia by foreigners, a trade originally dominated by Muslim traders from the Middle East, India, and from the archipelago itself, but increasingly undertaken by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the French East India Company.

These foreign spices and flavors are then combined with local produce and flavors commonly used in native Thai cuisine such as dried chili peppers, Chili peppers from the Americas were introduced to the region by the Spanish and Portuguese during the 16th and 17th century coriander seeds, lemongrass, galangal, white pepper, shrimp paste, shallots, and garlic to make the massaman curry paste.

The curry paste is first fried with coconut cream, and only then are meat, potatoes, onions, fish sauce or salt, tamarind paste, sugar, coconut milk and peanuts added. Massaman is usually eaten with rice together in a meal with other dishes. There are also traditional versions using oranges, orange juice, or pineapple juice as additional ingredients.

History

The name massaman is a corruption of the Persian term mosalmân (), meaning "Muslim," and the name massaman did not exist in Persian or Indian languages.Lambton, Ann K.S. (1954). Persian Vocabulary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 150. Cavendish, R. (2022). "Massaman", The Littie book of Curry. Chichester: Summersdale Publishers Ltd. 128 pp. Toschka, H.Y., Rattanapanone, N. and Sinsawasdi, V.K. (2022). "Islamic Influence", The Science of Thai Cuisine: Chemical Properties and Sensory Attributes. Florida: CRC Press, an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group. 272 pp. Hence, many earlier writers from the mid-19th century called the dish "Mussulman curry". The Magazine of Domestic Economy, Volume 5, p.63 (Google eBook), W.S. Orr & Company, 1840, accessed 2014-08-17: "A Mussulman Curry is made in the same way..."Sorties into Thai cultural history, Office of the National Culture Commission, Ministry of Education, 1982, accessed on Google Books 2014-08-17

According to Thai journalist and scholar Santi Sawetwimon, as well as Thai food experts David Thompson and Hanuman Aspler the dish originated in 17th century central Thailand at the cosmopolitan court of Ayutthaya,Kabkaew, K., Burapha University International College Thailand. (2023). Global Perspectives on Soft Power Management in Business. Pennsylvania: IGI Global. p. 131. through the Persian merchant Sheik Ahmad Qomi, from whom the noble Thai Bunnag family descends. Most theories contend that massaman is a southern Thai dish influenced by Malay and Indian cuisines.

The curry is extolled in the poem Kap He Chom Khrueang Khao Wan from the end of the 18th century, attributed to Prince Itsarasunthon of Siam (now Thailand), the later King Rama II (1767–1824). It is dedicated to a lady who is thought to be Princess Bunrot, the later Queen Sri Suriyendra, wife of King Rama II. The second stanza of the poem reads:

The first-ever recorded recipe for massaman curry by Lady Plean Phatsakorawong in 1889: "Chicken Massaman curry with bitter orange juice", with Massaman spelled Matsaman (หมัดสมั่น). By 2002, it was being included in Australian recipe books as "Musaman beef curry".bowl food: the new comfort food for people on the move 2002 Murdoch books Ed K Gasparini pp293

In 2011, CNNGo ranked massaman curry as the number one most delicious food in an article titled "World's 50 most delicious foods". However, in a readers' survey, it ranked at number ten. It remained at number one in the official, updated 2018 version.

Massaman curry

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