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Massaman curry

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Massaman curry
Chicken massaman with potato
TypeCurry
Place of originThailand
Main ingredientsMeat(beef,duck,orchicken) ortofu,coconut milk,onion,peanutsorcashews,potatoes,bay leaves,cardamompods,cinnamon,star anise,palm sugar,fish sauce,chiliandtamarindjuice
Similar dishesSaraman curry[1]

Massaman curry(Thai:แกงมัสมั่น,RTGS:kaeng matsaman,pronounced[kɛ̄ːŋmát.sā.màn]ⓘ) is a rich, flavourful, and mildly spicyThai curry.[2]It is afusion dish,combining ingredients from three sources:Persia,theIndian Subcontinent,and theMalay Archipelago(e.g.,cardamom,cinnamon,cloves,star anise,cumin,bay leaves,nutmeg,andmace) with ingredients more commonly used in nativeThai cuisine(e.g.,chili peppers,coriander,lemongrass,galangal,white pepper,shrimp paste,shallots,andgarlic) to make massamancurry paste.The substance of the dish is usually based on chicken or other meat, potatoes, onions, and peanuts. The richness comes from thecoconut milkand cream used as a base, as for many Thai curries.

In 2011,CNNGoranked massaman curry as the number one most delicious food in an article titled "World's 50 most delicious foods".[3]However, by a readers’ survey, it ranked number ten.[4]It remained at number one in the official, updated 2018 version.[5]

Description

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Due to itsMuslimroots and thereforeIslamic dietary laws,this curry is most commonly made withchicken,but there are also variations on this dish usingduck,beef,venison,mutton,goat,or rarely,pork.[6][7]As pork isharam(forbidden) in Islam, this last variant is not eaten by observantThai Muslims.Vegetarians and vegans have created their own versions of this dish, such as usingtofuand substituting any shrimp paste or fish sauce used.

The Muslim roots of the dish are evident in many of the flavors of the massamancurry paste(nam phrik kaeng matsaman) that come from spices not frequently used in other Thai curries.Cardamom,cinnamon,cloves,star anise,cumin,bay leaves,nutmegandmacewould, in the 17th century, have been brought to Thailand from theMalay ArchipelagoandSouth Asiaby foreigners, a trade originally dominated by Muslim traders from theMiddle East,Indian subcontinent,and from the archipelago itself, but increasingly undertaken by thePortuguese,theDutch,and theFrench East India Company.[8]

These foreign spices and flavors are then combined with local produce and flavors commonly used in native Thai cuisine such as driedchili peppers,[9]corianderseeds,lemongrass,galangal,white pepper,shrimp paste,shallots,andgarlicto make themassamancurry paste.

The curry paste is firstfriedwithcoconut cream,and only then are meat, potatoes, onions,fish sauceor salt,tamarindpaste, sugar,coconut milkandpeanutsadded.[10][11]Massamanis usually eaten with rice together in a meal with other dishes. There are also traditional versions usingoranges,orange juice,orpineapple juiceas additional ingredients.[12]

History

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Matsaman nuea(beef massaman) with potato,star anise,cinnamonandclove
Beef massaman curry served in a bowl

The namemassamanis a corruption of the termmosalman(Persian:مسلمان),[13]an archaic word derived fromPersian,meaning "Muslim"[14]and the namemassamandid not exist in Persian orIndian languages.[15]Hence, many earlier writers from the mid-19th century called the dish "Mussulman curry".[16] [17][18]

According to Thai journalist and scholarSanti Sawetwimon,as well asThai foodexpertsDavid ThompsonandHanuman Asplerthe dish originated in 17th centurycentral Thailandat the cosmopolitancourt of Ayutthaya,[19]through thePersianmerchantSheik Ahmad Qomi,from whom the noble ThaiBunnag familydescends.[20][21]Most theories contend thatmassamanis asouthern Thaidish influenced byMalayandIndian cuisine.[22]

Ayutthaya,mid-17th century

The curry is extolled in the poemKap He Chom Khrueang Khao Wanfrom the end of the 18th century, attributed to Prince Itsarasunthon of Siam (now Thailand), the laterKing Rama II(1767-1824). It is dedicated to a lady who is thought to be Princess Bunrot, the later QueenSri Suriyendra,wife of King Rama II. The secondstanzaof the poem reads:

The first-ever recorded recipe for massaman curry by Lady Plean Passakornrawong in 1889: "Chicken Massaman curry withbitter orangejuice ", withMassamanspelledMatsaman(หมัดสมั่น).[24]By 2002, it was being included in Australian recipe books as "Musaman beef curry"[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Carter, Terence (13 November 2014)."A Recipe for Saraman Curry or Cari Saramann – a Cambodian curry".Grantourismo Travels.Retrieved25 October2019.The similarity between Cambodia's Saraman curry and Thailand's Massaman curry (also written as Mussaman curry) lies in the base curry paste with just a few ingredients setting the Saraman curry apart.
  2. ^David Thompson,Thai Food(edition 2010), Pavilion Books, pages 329,ISBN978-1-86205-514-8
    • 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.ISBN978-075-6-69588-0
  3. ^"World's 50 most delicious foods".CNNGo.Cable News Network. 21 July 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 9 October 2011.Retrieved20 September2011.
  4. ^"World's 50 most delicious foods".CNNGo.Cable News Network. 7 September 2011. Archived fromthe originalon 11 November 2012.Retrieved29 September2012.
  5. ^"The world's 50 best foods".CNN Travel.14 March 2018.Retrieved9 March2019.
  6. ^"Thai Muslim Goat Curry (Wednesday Photo)".Thai Food and Travel Blog.
  7. ^"Thai Massaman Curry Recipe".Temple of Thai.
  8. ^Omar Farouk Shaeik Ahmad."Muslims in the Kingdom of Ayutthaya"(PDF).Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.pp. 208–212.Retrieved27 June2020.
  9. ^Cummings, Joe (2000).World Food:Thailand.Melbourne, Australia: Lonely Planet. p. 79.Chili peppers from the Americas were introduced to the region by the Spanish and Portuguese during the 16th and 17th century
  10. ^Netsuwan, Natty."Massaman Curry Paste—Prig Gang Mussamun พริกแกงมัสมั่น".ThaiTable.
  11. ^abPunyaratabandhu, Leela."Massaman (Matsaman) Curry Recipe (แกงมัสมั่น)".She Simmers.Retrieved27 June2020.
  12. ^"Beef Massaman Curry Recipe".Thai Table.
  13. ^Lambton, Ann K.S. (1954).Persian Vocabulary.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 150.ISBN978-052-1-09154-1
  14. ^Cavendish, R. (2022). "Massaman",The Littie book of Curry.Chichester: Summersdale Publishers Ltd. 128 pp.ISBN978-183-7-99037-5
  15. ^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.ISBN978-100-0-62467-0
  16. ^"massaman".Wiktionary.Retrieved5 January2021.
  17. ^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..."
  18. ^Sorties into Thai cultural history,Office of the National Culture Commission, Ministry of Education, 1982, accessed on Google Books 2014-08-17
  19. ^Kabkaew, K., Burapha University International College Thailand. (2023).Global Perspectives on Soft Power Management in Business.Pennsylvania: IGI Global. p. 131.ISBN979-836-9-30252-1
  20. ^"How to Make Gaeng Massaman Neua (Thai Massaman Curry With Beef)".Serious Eats.Retrieved2023-06-30.
  21. ^Wongcha-Um, Panu (2010).What is Thai Cuisine? Thai Culinary Identity Construction From The Rise of the Bangkok Dynasty to Its Revival(MA Thesis).Singapore: National University of Singapore.Retrieved27 June2020.
  22. ^"Southern Thai Massaman Curry".Temple of Thai.
  23. ^The complete poem in th.wikisource.org(in Thai)
  24. ^"Massaman Curry - The Untold Story (แกงมัสมั่น - แกงมาชะแมน - แกงหมัดสมั่น)".Thaifoodmaster.2016-08-28.Retrieved27 June2020.
  25. ^bowl food: the new comfort food for people on the move 2002 Murdoch books Ed K Gasparini pp293
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