If you go to Thai restaurants, you have to do this famous Thai curry that has recently change into popular on this planet. This dish is known as Massaman curry, a variety of Thai curry that comprises spices from Persia, the Indian subcontinent and the Malay Archipelago (resembling cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, cumin, bay leaves, nutmeg and mace) combining Thai ingredients which are acceptable on this region, resembling chili peppers, coriander, lemongrass, galangal, white pepper, shrimp paste, shallot, tamarind and garlic. The protein on this dish comes mostly from chicken, however it also comprises goat, duck, beef, venison, lamb and goat. Vegetarians and vegans created this recipe that omits animal proteins and replaces them with tofu, as an alternative of using fish sauce and shrimp paste as an alternative. The richness comes from the coconut milk used as a base, as is the case with many Thai curries.
This dish is taken into account a part of Thai Muslim cuisine for the reason that introduction of Islamic dietary law, which makes pork haram (forbidden) in Islam. There are two theories concerning the origin of Massaman curry. The first theory, in keeping with Thai journalist and scholar Santi Sawetwimon, in addition to Thai culinary experts David Thompson and Hanuman Aspler, is that the dish originated within the seventeenth century in central Thailand by a Persian merchant named Sheik Ahmad Qomi, who was the descendant of the noble Thai Bunnag family throughout the Ayutthaya period. The name “massaman” is a corruption of the word “mosalman”, an archaic Persian word meaning “Muslim”, and the name “massaman” didn’t exist in Persian or Indian languages. The second theory, which many Thais are more likely to consider, is that it originated in southern Thai cuisine, which was influenced by Malay and Indian cuisine.
Curry is praised and appears in a late 18th-century poem, Kap He Chom Khrueang Khao Wan, attributed to Prince Itsarasunthon of Siam (now Thailand), later King Rama II (1767-1824). It is devoted to a lady who was probably Princess Bunrot, later Queen Sri Suriyendra, wife of King Rama II. The second stanza of the poem reads:
Massaman, curry prepared by my beloved,
smells of cumin and powerful spices.
Any man who has tried this curry will certainly miss her.
The first recipe for massaman curry was recorded in 1889 by Lady Plean Passakornrawong: “Chicken in bitter orange juice in Massaman curry”, with Massaman being written as “Matsaman” to retain the Thai pronunciation.
Today, Massaman curry might be found and sold in lots of Thai restaurants at home and abroad. In 2011, CNN Travel named it primary on its list of “The Most World’s 50 Best Foods” and it remained in that position until 2021. This has contributed to the rise in popularity since Thai cuisine has change into recognized abroad.
Sources:
David Thompson, Thai Food (2010 edition), Pavilion Books, 329 pages.
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CNN Travel, “The 50 Best Foods in the World.” Published April 13, 2021.
Derek Lucci, “How to Make Gaeng Massaman Neua (Thai Massaman Beef Curry).” Serious Eats. Published July 12, 2021.
K., Burapha Kabkaew,. University International College Thailand. (2023). Global Perspectives on Managing Soft Power in Business. Pennsylvania: IGI Global. p. 131.
Leela Punyaratabandhu “Massaman (Matsaman) Curry Recipe” (Matsaman Curry)”. She Simmers Published on July 5, 2011
Pailin Chongchitnant, Authentic Thai Massaman Curry with Chicken. Hot Thai Kitchen. Posted on August 14, 2023
Excursions into the History of Thai Culture, Office of the National Cultural Commission, Ministry of Education, 1982.
The Magazine of Domestic Economy, volume 5, p. 63 (Google eBook), WS Orr & Company, 1840, accessed 2014-08-17: “A Mussulman Curry is made in the identical way…”
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 pages.
Wongcha-Um, Panu (2010). What is Thai Cuisine? The Construction of Thailand’s Culinary Identity from the Rise of the Bangkok Dynasty to Its Rebirth (Master’s Thesis). Singapore: National University of Singapore.
