At The Corner of Happy And Harried

A slice of my commonly uncommon life

Thai Massaman Curry {With Mushroom, Peppers, Eggplant & Paneer}

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Thai Massaman Curry {with mushroom, peppers, eggplant & paneer}

On his way home, the mister bought some mushrooms, deposited them on the kitchen counter and announced that (a) he would like them cooked without onions, and (b) in curry form. Gasp! That is enough to put most Indian wives in panic mode. What does he really want?

I could always use grated onions or blend the bhuna mixture (sauteed onion, ginger, garlic and tomato mixture that forms the base for many Indian dishes) to hide the onions, but I knew what he really meant. He wanted me to come up with something new.

Thai Massaman Curry With Sauteed Vegetables

Surprisingly, I turned to the archives of my own blog. Is that vain? I should hope not. Some kind of Thai curry seemed to be the best bet. You can find my previous Thai chicken recipes here and here. I saw no reason why the recipes cannot be used for vegetables. I was too tired lazy to make my own curry paste and decided that a trip to the store would be easier. I know, I always tell you to go the home-made way! Please don’t judge me this time. I went for red curry paste, but came back with massaman (or masaman) paste instead.

Thai Massaman Curry Paste

After some reading, I found that masssaman curry, though similar to the more famous red curry, has a unique spicy, sweet and sour flavor. This is achieved by the use of South Asian spices like coriander, cardamom and nutmeg, along with red chilies, galanga, kaffir lime, brown sugar and tamarind pulp.

Vegetarian Thai Massaman Curry

Armed with the curry paste, I got down to business. Mushrooms alone won’t do. I raided the fridge and found a small block of paneer, small Indian eggplant, and red peppers.

Thai Massaman Curry Ingredients

The paneer was fried and the vegetables were chopped and lightly sauteed. This is totally optional. You can add it directly to the sauce also.

Lightly Fried Paneer

The curry paste was combined with coconut milk and boiled to make a sauce, to which all the vegetables were added and allowed to cook till soft.

Thai Massaman Curry (Made With Curry Paste)

Delicious massaman curry that actually needs just two ingredients other than the vegetables, is ready to be served! Here is the detailed recipe.

You will need:

  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Paneer (or firm tofu) – 1 cup, cubed
  • Mushrooms – 2 cups, sliced
  • Eggplant (small Indian variety) – 1 sliced
  • Red/Green/Orange bell pepper – 1, de-seeded and sliced
  • Massaman curry paste – 1 small can
  • Coconut milk – 1 can, around 400 ml
  • Water and salt – as and if needed
  • Roasted peanuts – to garnish, optional

How to:

  • Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pan and fry the paneer (or tofu) and keep aside. In the same pan, lightly saute all the vegetables by adding another tablespoon of oil. Remove and keep aside.
  • Now combine the curry paste and coconut milk (reserve a couple of tablespoon of thick milk) and bring to a gentle boil.
  • Add the vegetables and paneer. Add a little water (if there are a lot of vegetables) and salt (only if needed). Cover and cook till vegetables are soft. Stir in the thick coconut milk and remove from heat.
  • Garnish with roasted peanuts (I didn’t) and serve with steamed rice, noodles or even rotis and chapathis.

Notes:

  • As I said, this paste has a sweet, sour and spicy flavor. But if you are very concerned about the spice in your brand of curry paste, start with just 2 tbsp of the paste, taste the sauce and add more as needed.

Quick Thai Massaman Curry

Though this recipe was super simple, I am dying to make my own massaman paste next time! Interestingly, when we had the first bite, we were immediately reminded of a duck curry at our favorite Thai restaurant. Now I know the secret!

Did you know that in 2011, Thai massaman curry was number one on CNN’s World’s 50 Best Foods list? Is that incentive enough to make you want to try it?!!

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Comments

  2. What a beautiful dish! Curries always intimidated me, but I love them. Maybe I should break down and get some curry paste and try my hand at it.

    Reply

  4. Now that looks delish and not too hard to cook? But please tell me is masaam hot hot hot? Should I run? Will mymouth be on fire? lol..if not then I might give this a go, i am a chicken when it comes to being too hot. thank you for sharing, i hope your having a fab party with plenty of friends and banter xxx Justine co hosting with Mr Fitz

    Reply

  10. It looks great, I’ve looked at your previous posts on making the red and green pastes – I love Thai food too, and sometimes find some of the ingredients hard to find. I do make a nice Indian green masala sort of the same way too, and I use it for so many dishes, it is quite versatile. I’ll have to try your massaman curry.

    Reply

  11. looks delicious, superb clicks! Thanks for listing the ingredients, I will have to look for a brand that does not have fish sauce or maybe make my own. 🙂

    Reply

  12. I love massaman! I actually learned how to cook it on a trip to Thailand a few years ago and it’s a regular at our house, but I rarely seem to see it otherwise – it’s almost never on Thai restaurant menus, and even to find the curry paste is always more of a hunt than the usual red, green or yellow pastes.

    I’ve tried the Maesri brand of paste in the tin that you used, but I actually much prefer the ones that come in the little tubs – Mae Ploy (they spell theirs Masman) or Aroy-D (Matsaman). It’s probably just personal preference, and if you’re going to attempt making your own anyway it’s irrelevant (and good for you!), but I just thought I would share for others out there who might be interested in trying it.

    Of course, you can use different vegetables, too – I always do mine with boiled potatoes, onions (much to your husband’s chagrin!), and a meat (usually chicken). I also dress mine up by adding fish sauce, tamarind paste, cinnamon and cardamom to the paste and coconut milk, and then finishing with a decent sprinkle of peanuts. Again, it’s part of what I was taught but they’re all part of the essential flavour to me.

    Overall, it seems my massaman is actually quite different from yours, but I’m sure they’re all delicious, however you do it! Now I know what I want to have for dinner tonight! 🙂

    Reply

    • Thanks for the info, Caroline!
      The ingredient list on the can already lists fish sauce, tamarind pulp, cinnamon and cardamom. Do you still add them?
      I consciously went for an assortment of vegetables as we were craving something different that day and I also had to use my the veggies left in the fridge.
      I’ve never seen massaman listed in restaurants, but the sauce tasted very much like a coconut milk duck curry we had once. I am now sure they use massaman paste in it.

      Reply

  15. Cheater cheater cheater ;))…..lol ! Anjana, your pics are popping out my screen and only if I could dig in that bowl of goodness right now. For a minute I thought that I am getting the recipe for massaman paste ;)…but this is even better…I use ready made Thai curry pasted all the time. Still have to perfect the recipes to do at home!
    Okay, when I visit you, the lemon rice, cauliflower curry and this massaman curry is on my demanding list ;).
    Hugs! I am going to reblog it and share on my Facebook!

    Reply

  21. Love the shot with all the veggies/ingredients.. everything looks so fresh and inviting! I would love to try this except I think masaman paste traditionally has shrimp paste and fish sauce. Maybe a modified version!

    Reply

  22. No judging at all Anjana! You did great! Looks like your finished product came out wonderfully! Question: what is in curry paste?

    Reply

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