Beef, Chicken, or Pork Masaman Curry

Ingredients:

Beef, chicken, or pork	½ kilogram
Coconut, grated	400 grams (or coconut milk 3 cups)
Peanuts, roasted	2 tablespoons
Onions, small, peeled	5 each (or 100 grams)
Potatoes, small, peeled and boiled	5 each (or 100 grams)
Bay leaves	3 each
Cardamom fruits, roasted	5 each
Cinnamon, 1 cm long and roasted	1 each
Palm sugar	3 tablespoons
Tamarind juice	3 tablespoons
Lemon juice	3 tablespoons

Directions:

• Cut beef, chicken, or pork into 2 inch chunks.
• Add 1 ½ cups of warm water to coconut and squeeze out 3 cups of coconut milk. Skim off 1 cup of coconut cream for use in the spice mixture for cooking. Pour the remaining coconut milk into a pot with chicken, pork, or beef, and simmer until tender. (If beef is used, 2 additional cups of coconut milk are needed because of a longer cooking time required.)
• Heat the coconut cream in a frying pan until oil patches appear on the surface, add the spice mixture and cook until fragrant. Spoon into the pot with the meat and add peanuts. Taste and Correct seasoning for sweet, salty, and sour flavors with tamarind juice, palm sugar and lemon juice. Add bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, potatoes and onion, and simmer until tender.

Masaman Curry Paste

Ingredients:

Dried chilies, seeds removed and soaked in water	3 each
Salt	1 teaspoon
Galangal, minced and roasted	1 teaspoon
Lemon grass, thinly sliced and roasted	1heaping tablespoon
Shallots, roasted	5 each
Garlic, roasted	2 bulbs
Cloves, roasted and ground	2 each
Coriander seeds, roasted and ground	1 tablespoon
Cumin seeds, roasted and ground	1 teaspoon
Pepper	5 each
Shrimp paste	1 teaspoon

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a mortar and grind until well-ground and mixed thoroughly.

Correct Characteristics of Masaman Curry :

The soup must be red brown, rich and fragrant from spices, and taste mild but not have oily sheens while the beef or meat must be tender and fragrant and absorb the soup. Nuts in the soup must be well-cooked.

Cooking Tips:

• The beef must be cooked in coconut milk until very tender before being brought for cooking Kaeng Masaman.
• Masaman paste must be fried until fragrant.
• Potatoes must be boiled until well-cooked before being added to the soup.
• Onions must be boiled or scalded before being added to the soup.
• Kaeng curry must be cooked on low heat.
• Chicken meat or pork can be used in place of beef.

Eating Culture:

Masaman curry is usually eaten with the main meal with rice. For fusion eating, it can be eaten with bread.

How to Serve:

Spoon the curry into a serving bowl and place in the middle of a dining table. Serve with pickled ginger, pickled cucumbers, or salad. Serve with the main meal for eating with rice.

Recipe Variations:

Masaman Nua (beef)
Masaman Mu (pork)
Masaman Kai (chicken)
Masaman on Bread

Name Derivative :

Masama Curry is one of Thai dishes described in King Rama II’s Thai food and dessert admiration prose.

Nutritional and Medicinal Properties of Herbs used in Masaman Curry:

Krawan (Cardamom)

Cardamom is in a lotus flower-like small round shape and white color with soft shells. Cardamom seeds are black, have good aroma like lemon and taste little spicy and bitter sweet. Cardamom leaves look like Kaew or Orange Jasmine leaves. Dried cardamom leaves are brown.
Use : Krawan (Cardamom) is an important ingredient of several Thai dishes such as Masaman and beef curry.
Grounded cardamom is used in certain kinds of pastries and cake or added to hot beverages in some countries.
Medicinal properties : Relieves dyspepsia, nausea, loss of taste, indigestion, bad breath of Halitosis, hoarseness, Pharyngitis and sore throat, cough and cold, phlegmatic cough, diarrhea, dysentry and exhaustion.

Kanphlu (Cloves)

look like nails and have good aroma and very light weight. Best-quality cloves must be buds.
Use : Roasted cloves with sweet aroma and spicy taste, either as grounded cloves or whole cloves are used in several kinds of Thai soup (Kaeng), desserts and beverages. They can also used as garnish. In Indonesia, cloves are mixed with tobacco in the tobacco industry.
Medicinal properties : Antiseptic. Helps flatulence and indigestion, relieves muscular cramps, cholera, nausea, gum and teeth ailments, headache, heaviness in head due to cough and cold, throat irritaion due to cough, and bronchial afflictions.

Obchoey (Cinnamon or Cassia)

Cinnamon is the dried bark of various laurel trees in the cinnamomun family.
Use : Cinnamon can be used as spice both in main dishes and desserts.
Medicinal properties : Stimulant. Helps reduce vomiting and flatulence, relieves diarrhea, bad breath, loss of taste sensitivity in the tongue, hoarseness, Pharyngitis, sore throat, headache caused by exposure to cold air, cough, acne, blackheads and pimples and insomnia, improves complexion, and betters memory.

Jeera (Caraway or Cumin)

Both Caraway and Cumin give slightly sweet tastes and similar aromas, but the seeds of Caraway are bigger in size while Cumin has better and stronger adors and is spicier.
Use : Add to curry paste and meat dishes such as Satay, roasted chicken, roasted beef, soup, sausages and ham as well as pickles, preserved fruit, cake, cookies and biscuits. Jeera is also used in salad cream and soup in certain countries. American mixed spices called “ Chili Seasoning ” also contain Jeera.
Medicinal properties : Stimulant, antispasmodic, carminative Relieves diabetes, constipation, indigestion, nausea, fatigue and insomnia.

Prik Kee Noo (Fresh hot Chili Peppers)

Use : Hot chili peppers give the uniquely hot taste and aroma of Thai cooking. It is the star ingredient of most dishes. Almost every dish will taste better with a small addition of these tiny hot chili peppers. Tom Yam and Tom Kha cannot be made without them.
Medicinal properties : Relieves diarrhea, stimulates digestion and the heat, increases blood flow to taste buds and thus increases appetite, relieves infection, dissolves blood clod, and prevents intestinal cancer.

Kha (Mature Galangal)

Use : Beef and chicken Tom Yam need mature galangal roots to improve the flavor of the beef and chicken. The dishes will have a better aroma and taste.
Medicinal properties : Relieves skin rash, diarrhea, indigestion and body pain due to crash and fall.

Takrai (Lemon grass)

Use : Lemon grass is an essential ingredient of a Tom Yam, a popular Thai dish served in most restaurants around the world. It gives a pleasant flavor and covers up the fish and shrimp smells.
Medicinal properties : Aids digestion, relieves stomach pain, increases urine production, and relieves gall stone problems and high blood pressure.

Gratiem (Garlic)

Use : Almost all Thai dishes - soups, curries, salads, sauces and pan-fried dishes – contain garlic.
Medicinal properties : Cures and prevents atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, aids digestion, relieves cold symptoms, fights some intestinal parasites, helps heal wounds, fights infections, strengthens heart, and clears chest congestion.

Hua Hom (Shallots)

Use : Shallots are ingredients of all kinds of curry pastes, hot sauces and salads.
Medicinal properties : Aids digestion, relieves cold symptoms, increases appetite, and regulates menstruation.

Luk Phakshee (Coriander Seeds)

Coriander seeds are small and white or pale brown and taste fizzy like licorice. Coriander leaves smell and taste better.
Use : Stir-fried coriander powder is used as spice in clear soup, curries, stew, duck, chicken, pork and goose dishes, or added to apple pies, custard, fruit salad, cream and even in gin.
Medicinal properties : Relieves swellings, high cholesterol, diarrhea, mouth ulcers, anaemia and kidney problems.

Nam Makham Piak (Tamarind Paste)

Use : Tamarind paste can be used in place of lime juice. It is an essential ingredient of Kaeng Khua, Tom Khlong and some spicy salad, which require sweet and sour flavours. It lends a beautiful colour to Tom Khlong.
Medicinal properties : Prevents and relieves constipation, relieves cold symptoms i.e. coughing, runny nose, and sore throat, and relieves indigestion, loss of appetite and tastelessness.

Nam Manao (Lime Juice)

Use : as ingredient in Yam, Tom Yam and Kaeng Som and also as beverage.
Medicinal properties : Relieves coughs, sore throat, swollen gum, tooth bleeding, constipation, dizziness, the lack of Vitamin C, and phlegm.