Rich, creamy, and full of flavor – Homemade Massaman Curry. This dish is jam-packed with fragrant Asian flavors and succulent, tender meat.
An Amazing Massaman Curry Recipe
Made with a homemade Massaman curry paste, this Thai curry is jam-packed full of Thai aromatics with layers and layers of flavor that melt in your mouth, and tender Lamb.
What else can I say? This dish makes me want to dive headfirst into the bowl with my mouth wide open!
What is Massaman Curry?
Massaman curry is a rich, stew-like mild Thai curry. The base of the sauce is usually made using coconut cream, cumin, coriander, lemongrass, and other Thai aromatics.
Homemade Massaman Curry Paste
This recipe is made using a homemade curry paste so there’s no searching supermarkets or specialty stores for store-bought.
What Meat For Massaman Curry
For this recipe, I use Lamb Shanks, but you can use Beef Short Ribs, Chicken Thighs, or Whatever your favorite stewing meat is.
Alternatively, try my Beef Massaman recipe which uses beef stew meat.
How To Make Massaman Curry
- Cook onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, cumin, coriander, and peppercorns in a dry frying pan until fragrant
- Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Blend in a food processor, with anchovy paste, sugar, and oil, and blend until smooth to make the paste.
- Brown the meat until golden brown set aside in a large oven-safe dish with potatoes & onions.
- Add the massaman paste to a frying pan, then fry for a few minutes until fragrant. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a boil.
- Season with the lime & lemon juice, and fish sauce, add lime leaves, then pour the sauce over the meat, onion, and potatoes, cover and bake for 2 hours.
- Serve on rice sprinkled with the chopped cilantro/coriander leaves.
I can’t stress enough how amazing this dish turned out to be – Slow-cooked, melt in your mouth, tender lamb, and a creamy sauce that is packed with flavor! Thai Lamb Massaman is a fragrant and filling southern Thai dish. Try it and you will not be disappointed!
Recipe Tips
- The secret cooking perfect Thai curries is to use plenty of aromatics, like onion, ginger, and garlic.
- Choose full-fat coconut cream (thick if you can find it) for amazing richness.
- Finishing with just a little bit of rice vinegar and sugar adds brightness and elevates the flavor.
- Feel free to change up the meat to whatever braising meat you like best.
You May Also Like
Here are just a few more curries to add to your repertoire.
Massaman Curry is a mild, stew-stew like curry often found in Thai or Malaysian cooking.
Massaman Curry is a rich, creamy, mild curry with a rich aromatic sauce rich in Thai flavors.
Massaman curry is a rich, stew-like mild Thai curry. The base of the sauce is usually made using coconut cream, cumin, coriander, lemongrass, and other Thai aromatics.
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Let’s Make Thai Massaman Curry
Ingredients
For the Massaman paste:
- 1 large onion chopped
- 2 tablespoon lemongrass paste
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger peeled, grated
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 8 black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the main dish:
- 1 lb potatoes peeled and quartered
- 8 baby onions peeled & left whole
- 4 Lamb Shanks
- leaves small bunch fresh cilantro/coriander stalks & finely chopped & separated
- 2 tablespoons fresh ginger finely grated
- 28 ounces coconut cream 2 14oz/425g cans
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 3 leaves dried kaffir lime
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 f/150 c
For the Massaman paste:
- Fry the onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, cumin, coriander, ground cloves and peppercorns in a dry frying pan for until fragrant (4-5 minutes).
- Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Blend the spices in a food processor, then add the anchovy paste, sugar and oil and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- For The Curry
- Heat a large non-stick frying pan and brown the meat until golden brown set aside in a large oven safe dish with the potatoes & onions.
- Add the massaman paste, cilantro/coriander stalks and ginger to the frying pan, then fry for a few minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a boil.
- Season with the lime & lemon juice, and fish sauce, add the lime leaves, then pour the sauce over the meat, onion and potatoes, cover and bake for 2 hours.
- Serve on rice sprinkled with the chopped cilantro/coriander leaves.
Tips + Notes
- The secret cooking perfect Thai curries is to use plenty of aromatics, like onion, ginger, and garlic.
- Choose full-fat coconut cream (thick if you can find it) for amazing richness.
- Finishing with just a little bit of rice vinegar and sugar adds brightness and elevates the flavor.
- Feel free to change up the meat to whatever braising meat you like best.
Rob says
After cooking for 2 hours in the oven, lamb was still not cooked. Had to crank up the heat to 180C and let it cook for another 30 minutes. By that point we were starving. The extra time couldn’t save it, the meat was tough and inedible. Local restaurant down the road slow cooks theirs for 4 hours, and alternative recipes cook for at least 3 hours or up to 3.5 hours. The idea that this will cook shanks properly in 2 hours and be fall apart tender is ridiculous. Inedible and bland – all of you posting 5 stars need to go to a Thai restaurant and actually try a proper massaman.
Erren Hart says
Hi Rob, I’m so sorry this didn’t work for you. I actually just made it the other night with no problems. What cut of meat did you use? Was it boneless or on the bone? I’d love some more info so I can troubleshoot and update the instructions for different cuts of meat. Any help would be great. Thank you.
Katerina @ diethood .com says
I can wait to try this!! It looks incredibly delicious!!
Lora says
This dish is full of flavor and just wonderful to make in the slow cooker!
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you Lora!
Erin says
This was a wonderful Thai Lamb Massaman! So good!
Erren's Kitchen says
Thanks for such great feedback, Erin!
Melanie says
Talk about melt in your mouth! WOW!
Sara Welch says
What a savory recipe! I am adding this delicious dish to my dinner line up for the week!
Erren's Kitchen says
That is awesome to hear Sara!
Vik says
Made this and the whole family loved it, everyone agreed it tasted amazing!
Erren's Kitchen says
That is so nice to hear, thank you!
Annie says
These flavors are so classic!
anne says
Fantastic curry! Everyone raved!
Erren says
Wonderful! Thanks for reaching out!
Glenn says
This was awesome!
Amy says
A thai restaurant near us make this and it’s so yummy but so pricey for such small portions. I’ve now made this, and it is amazing! It’s a lot of preparation but so so worth it! Id say it’s just as good as the thai restaurant’s mussaman and you get way more for your money making this yourself. Even my 2.5 year old loved it! A must try recipe!
Erren says
Yay! I’m so glad it came out good! See, I told you that you could do it! 🙂