Thai Chicken Massaman Curry Recipe

My chicken massaman is the mildest of the Thai curries: sweet and warm rather than hot, with new potatoes and carrot soaking up a coconut sauce spiced with cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander. A Thai friend first showed me how to make it, and I have cooked it my own way ever since.

She used chicken breast and I prefer thighs, which stay juicy over the forty minutes this needs. The other thing I would not leave out is the peanut butter: two spoonfuls stirred through, which is what gives massaman its body and its faint sweetness, with toasted peanuts over the top at the end.

It is forgiving, and it is better the next day. For another creamy coconut curry, take a look at my Thai Yellow Chicken Curry.

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Where Massaman Curry Comes From

Massaman is the gentle one of the Thai curries, mild, fragrant and a little sweet. It grew up in southern Thailand from the meeting of Thai cooking with the spices that Indian and Muslim traders brought by sea, which is why you taste warm notes like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and star anise alongside the usual Thai aromatics.

Massaman, Panang or Red? Where It Sits Among Thai Curries

If you order by heat, massaman is the gentle end of the menu. Red and green curries are built on fresh or dried chillies and mean it; panang is red’s richer, thicker cousin, nutty and still warm. Massaman is the outlier: the chilli takes a back seat to cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg, the sauce leans sweet and mellow, and peanuts and potato do work that no other Thai curry gives them. That is why it is the one to cook for children, for chilli-shy guests, or for anyone who thinks they do not like Thai food.

So is massaman curry spicy? Barely, as curries go. Most of its warmth is aromatic rather than hot, and the coconut milk rounds off what little chilli the paste carries. If you want more fire, it is easier to add a sliced chilli at the end than to take heat out of a hotter curry.

A Deliberately Mild Massaman: How My Version Differs

Years of cooking curry alongside Sri Lankan and Thai colleagues have pulled my own version toward a lighter touch. The classic Thai massaman balances three things at the finish: tamarind for sour, palm sugar for sweet and fish sauce for salt. Mine deliberately uses none of the three. The coconut milk and peanut butter carry the sweetness and body on their own, the lime at the end does the brightening, and the result is softer and rounder than a restaurant massaman.

The carrots are mine too. You will not find them in a Bangkok massaman, but they earn their place here: gentle sweetness, a bit of colour, and something for the sauce to cling to between the potatoes.

If you want to steer it toward the classic sharper profile, do it at the end, tasting as you go: a teaspoon of tamarind paste for tang, a splash of fish sauce for salty depth, a pinch of palm or brown sugar only if it then needs rebalancing. Another upgrade worth knowing: skim the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk tin and fry the paste in it until the oil splits before the liquid goes in. It is the traditional flavour step, and the reason it is worth the trouble is that the dried and the fresh aromatics get to work on each other from the start, while the moisture coming out of the fresh ones keeps the dried spices from scorching the way they would in bare oil. Cook it until the paste darkens and the oil comes away at the edges. A star anise or a few whole toasted spices simmered in the sauce push it further toward the market-stall version.

Massaman Paste: Shop-Bought or Made Fresh

The paste is the single biggest variable in how this curry turns out, and readers on every massaman recipe I have compared blame it for batches that came out too salty or too hot. Brands genuinely differ: Maesri is the one most often named as a reliable, medium-strength choice, while some others run noticeably saltier or hotter. Whatever the tin says, shop-bought pastes are usually stronger than homemade, so start with a little less than the recipe calls for, taste once the coconut milk is in, and stir in more if it needs it.

One thing the labels do not shout about: most Thai curry pastes contain shrimp paste, and some carry anchovy too. This curry looks plant-friendly at a glance, all coconut and peanut and potato, but if you are cooking for vegetarians or anyone with a shellfish allergy, read the paste label first. Vegan massaman pastes exist and work well; swap the chicken for tofu or extra potato and the rest of the recipe carries over as it is.

Making Your Own Massaman Paste

It is worth doing at least once, and the reason is the one above: a homemade paste is the only one whose salt and heat you decide. It keeps for a fortnight in the fridge and months in the freezer, so one afternoon buys you four curries. This batch makes about 240 g, which is four batches of the curry below - the recipe card takes 4 tablespoons, roughly a quarter of what you make here. Most paste recipes never tell you that, which is why people end up guessing.

The whole spices, toasted and ground

• 4 g coriander seeds, about 2 tsp
• 4 g cumin seeds, about 1½ tsp
• 5 g green cardamom pods, about 20, seeds only. Green, not black: black cardamom is smoky and makes a different paste altogether
• 10 g cinnamon, a stick of about 8 cm, snapped up
• 6 cloves
• 2 g black peppercorns, about 1 tsp
• A good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

The fresh and wet ingredients

• 30 g dried red chillies, about 10 to 12, stalks off
• 50 g lemongrass, two fat stalks, tough outer layers stripped and the rest finely sliced
• 50 g shallots, about two banana shallots, peeled and sliced
• 30 g garlic, about 8 cloves, peeled
• 10 g galangal, peeled and sliced thinly across the grain
• 10 g shrimp paste, optional but traditional. Miso is the swap if you are keeping it vegetarian, and it is a real one rather than an omission: fermented, salty and savoury, doing the same job
• 5 g salt, about 1 tsp

1. Toast the whole spices on their own. Dry pan, medium heat, thirty seconds to a minute, moving them about until you can smell them, then grind them to a powder. Doing them dry and separately is not fussiness: heat mellows whole spices individually, so each one keeps its own character, where frying ground spices together in fat blends them into one. You want the first here and the second later, in the pan.
2. Soak the dried chillies. Ten minutes in just-boiled water until they are soft and pliable. Shake the seeds out first if you want a gentler paste, which suits this curry, or leave them in for more heat. Drain them, but keep a spoonful of the soaking water back in case the paste needs loosening.
3. Pound or blend. A pestle and mortar gives the better paste, because crushing bruises the aromatics and releases their oils rather than slicing through them, and it is what a Thai kitchen would use. A food processor is honestly fine and is what most of us reach for. Start with the toughest things, the lemongrass and the galangal, and work them down before the softer shallots and garlic go in, then the chillies, then the ground spices and the shrimp paste last. Add the reserved chilli water a teaspoon at a time if the blades will not catch.
4. Grind the spices, do not just tip them in. Whole peppercorns and coriander seeds survive a blender surprisingly well, and biting into one in the finished curry is nobody’s idea of a good time.

Keeping it. Press it into a small jar, level the top and pour a thin film of oil over the surface to keep the air off. A fortnight in the fridge, and three to six months in the freezer. Freeze it in an ice cube tray and you have single-curry portions ready to drop straight in. The oil is there to keep the air off rather than to preserve anything, so the jar belongs in the fridge and not on the worktop.

Two things worth knowing. The peanuts are not in the paste. A couple of cooks grind them in, but ours go into the curry itself, toasted, where you can still taste them as peanuts. And a homemade paste goes into the pan exactly as a shop-bought one does, at the same step, fried in the hot fat before any liquid arrives. Making it yourself does not let you skip that, and it is the step that does the most for the finished sauce.

If you cannot find galangal, and most British supermarkets do not carry it fresh, an Asian grocer or a decent world food aisle will have it frozen, dried or as a paste, and any of those beats the alternative. Failing that, use ginger with the zest of a lime: the ginger gives you the heat and the zest stands in for the citrus note that galangal has and ginger does not. Nobody claims it tastes the same, but it makes a good curry. Coriander root is the other one you will not find here, since British bunches come with the roots trimmed off. The seed in the spice list is already doing most of that job, and if you want the grassy note as well, chop the stems from a supermarket bunch finely and add them with the shallots. One last option, if you like a little more warmth: a small piece of star anise ground in with the spices is a real Thai variation, though most pastes do without it.

How to Make Massaman Curry, Step by Step

Full quantities are in the recipe card below. Massaman is the gentlest of the Thai curries, and the order below is what builds its warmth in layers rather than all at once.

1. Start with the shallots. A tablespoon of oil in a deep frying pan over a medium heat, then the diced shallots until they begin to brown. Banana shallots are sweeter and gentler than onion, which suits a curry that is meant to be mellow rather than sharp.
2. Turn the heat up and sear the chicken. Colour the diced thigh on all sides. Thigh rather than breast is the right call here: it holds up to the simmer without drying, and the little bit of fat enriches the sauce.
3. Ground cumin and coriander in, then the carrots. Stir and give it a couple of minutes. Frying the ground spices in hot fat before any liquid arrives does more than warm them through: it lets their aroma compounds react with one another, so they taste like one blended spice rather than three separate powders. It is the same move Indian cooks make before the onions and garlic go in, which is fitting for a curry that came out of that meeting in the first place. Cumin and coriander gain something else from the heat too, a toasted, savoury layer over the raw aroma that they simply do not have straight from the jar.
4. Now the Massaman paste and the whole spices. Paste, ground cardamom, the cinnamon stick and a pinch of nutmeg, cooked for about a minute until the kitchen smells of it. If your paste is shop-bought, start with a spoonful less than the card says and top up after tasting, since ready-made pastes run stronger than homemade. This combination is the whole reason massaman tastes different from every other Thai curry: cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg are warm baking spices, carried into Thai cooking by Persian and Indian traders, and they are what make this one gentle and fragrant rather than hot.
5. Potatoes, coconut milk, peanut butter and lime leaves. Stir until the peanut butter has completely dissolved into the sauce, with no streaks left sitting on the surface. A blob that has not dispersed will melt and release its oil into the sauce, leaving it looking greasy: peanut butter is solid peanut particles suspended in liquid oil, and the smooth jars only hold the two together with a little hardened fat that softens the moment it warms. Take the extra few seconds over it. Then let it simmer until the potatoes are tender.
6. Finish and serve. Once the chicken is cooked through, fish out the cinnamon stick, then ladle it over jasmine rice with toasted peanuts, fresh coriander and a good squeeze of lime. The lime at the end is what stops all that richness feeling heavy.

Recipe Card for Thai Chicken Massaman Curry

Ingredient Substitutions

• Massaman paste. Homemade gives the truest flavour and the recipe for it is higher up this page, but a good shop-bought paste works well. Start with a little less than the recipe says and build up, since ready-made pastes are usually more concentrated.
• Chicken. Beef massaman is every bit as traditional: use shin or chuck and give it a much longer, gentler simmer. For a meat-free pot, tofu or extra potato work, with a vegan paste, since standard pastes contain shrimp.
• Peanuts and peanut butter. Cashews and cashew butter swap in beautifully, and toasted pumpkin seeds are my go-to if you are cooking around a nut allergy.
• Potatoes. Sweet potato is a lovely change, though it adds sweetness of its own to an already gentle curry, so consider a squeeze more lime at the end.
• Coconut milk. Coconut cream works too and gives a richer sauce. Check the label either way: some brands are sweetened, and that quietly tips the pot.

What to Serve With Massaman Curry

🍽 I love this curry ladled over a mound of fluffy jasmine rice, which soaks up all that rich, nutty sauce. A little warm flatbread or roti on the side is perfect for mopping the bowl clean, and a sharp cucumber relish or a few crunchy pickles cut through the richness beautifully. If you would rather one dish than several small ones, my salad builder will make a cooling salad that does the same job.

Storing, Freezing and Reheating

Massaman is one of the best next-day curries there is: the fridge does it a favour, and the spices settle into the sauce overnight. Keep it in a sealed container for up to three days, and reheat it gently on the hob with a splash of water to loosen the sauce, since the potatoes will have drunk some of it as it sat.

It also freezes well for up to a month. The waxy new potatoes in this recipe are what make that work: they hold their texture through freezing far better than floury ones, which turn grainy. Thaw it in the fridge overnight and reheat gently, again with a little water. The garnishes are the only casualties, so add fresh coriander, toasted peanuts and the lime after reheating, not before.

FAQ for Thai Chicken Massaman Curry

Where can I find Massaman curry paste?

Most large supermarkets carry it in the world food aisle, Asian grocers stock several brands, and it is easy to find online. Buy the small tins rather than the big jars if you cook it occasionally, since an opened paste loses its perfume within a few weeks in the fridge. Brands differ a lot in salt and heat, which is why it is worth starting with slightly less than the recipe says and topping up after tasting. If that variability is what keeps catching you out, the recipe higher up this page makes about four curries’ worth and puts both the salt and the heat in your hands.

How spicy is Massaman curry?

Mild, and deliberately so. The warmth here is aromatic rather than hot, and the coconut milk softens what little chilli the paste carries. Since this recipe uses a ready-made paste, the heat is largely set by the tin you buy, so brands vary more than anything you do in the pan. To make it warmer, add a sliced red chilli with the shallots or a pinch of chilli flakes with the ground spices, and taste before adding more. To make it gentler still, use a spoonful less paste and let the coconut milk and peanut butter carry the sauce.

Is Massaman curry gluten-free?

Generally, Massaman curry is gluten-free. However, always check the ingredients, especially if using store-bought curry paste, as some might contain gluten.

Why has my massaman curry turned out too sweet?

Massaman should be gently sweet, never sticky. In this version the sweetness comes from just two places, the coconut milk and the peanut butter, so check both labels first: some coconut milk brands are sweetened, and ordinary peanut butter is made with salt and up to six per cent added sugar. The natural sort, the kind that separates in the jar and needs a stir, is the better choice here on both counts. Use unsweetened versions of each, then rebalance the pot with a good squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt, which sharpen it without thinning it.

Does massaman curry need tamarind?

This recipe does not use it, and it does not need it: the lime at the end does the brightening. A classic Thai massaman does lean on tamarind for its gentle background tang, so if you want that profile, stir in a teaspoon of tamarind paste at the end and taste before adding more. No tamarind in the cupboard? A squeeze of lime with a small pinch of brown sugar lands close.

Can I make this with beef instead of chicken?

Absolutely, and beef massaman is just as traditional as the chicken version. Use a slow-cooking cut like shin or chuck and give it a longer, gentle simmer, usually an hour and a half or more, until it turns meltingly tender. The potatoes and sauce stay the same, so only your cooking time really changes.

Does this recipe use fish sauce?

There is none in this recipe, which keeps it gentler and simpler. What fish sauce brings to a classic massaman is a salty, savoury depth, so if you want that, add a splash at the end and taste, or use light soy sauce for a similar lift. Bear in mind the curry paste itself usually contains shrimp, so the dish is not vegetarian either way unless the paste is too.

Is massaman curry vegetarian or vegan?

Not automatically, and this catches people out: most shop-bought Thai curry pastes contain shrimp paste, and some include anchovy, even though the rest of this dish is plants and coconut. For a vegetarian or vegan massaman, buy a paste labelled vegan, then swap the chicken for tofu or extra potato. Everything else in the recipe already qualifies.

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Video Recipe for Massaman Curry

A Few Words from the Chef

This is the one I make when I want everyone at the table happy, spice-shy kids included. Tell me in the comments how yours turned out.

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