Massaman Curry Lab · Calculator

Design your own massaman curry

The sliders start at the typical pot: the median of 95 recipes for each ingredient, in grams per can of coconut milk. Set how many cans you have, move any slider within the range that 90% of recipes use (the 5th to the 95th percentile) and the grams update, with where your choice sits among the recipes and what that ingredient does.

This scales ratios; it is not a tested recipe. Each ingredient moves on its own against the coconut milk, and a combination no recipe uses may not taste the way you expect. For the method, follow the real recipes nearest your numbers.

Coconut milk

Number of cans

1 can (400 g) makes one typical pot.

Start from a recipe

Load a real recipe's numbers into the sliders. Search by title or site.

Grams per can of coconut milk

Curry paste
48 gabout 3 tbsp
In the middle: 49% of recipes use more, 49% less.
Bought massaman paste, usually, or the weight of a homemade one's ingredients.
Meat, fish or tofu
360 g
In the middle: 47% of recipes use more, 52% less.
Beef, chicken or lamb braised in the sauce, bone and all, or tofu in a vegan version. The slow-cooked beef recipes use the most.
Potatoes
320 gabout 1 1/2 medium potatoes
In the middle: 46% of recipes use more, 52% fewer.
Potatoes or sweet potatoes, simmered until they start to thicken the sauce.
Onions
50 gabout 1/2 medium onion
In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 48% fewer.
An onion or a few shallots in the curry; recipes with a homemade paste count its shallots as paste.
Peanuts
24 gabout 2 1/2 tbsp
In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% fewer.
Roasted peanuts or peanut butter cooked into the curry. Peanuts scattered on top count as a garnish.
Fish or soy sauce
18 g · 18 g per can of coconut milkabout 1 tbsp
In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% less.
Fish sauce for salt, or soy sauce in vegan versions.
Tamarind or lime
14 gabout 2 1/2 tsp
In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% less.
Tamarind for the sour note, or lime juice.
Sugar
8 g · 7.5 g per can of coconut milkabout 2 tsp
In the middle: 50% of recipes use more, 49% less.
Palm or brown sugar, to balance the tamarind and fish sauce.

Your massaman curry

Your massaman curry in grams, with approximate volumes
Ingredient	Grams
Coconut milk	400 g1 can
Curry paste	48 gabout 3 tbsp
Meat, fish or tofubeef, chicken and tofu	360 g
Potatoes	320 gabout 1 1/2 medium potatoes
Onions	50 gabout 1/2 medium onion
Peanutspeanuts and cashews	24 gabout 2 1/2 tbsp
Fish or soy saucefish sauce and soy sauce	18 gabout 1 tbsp
Tamarind or limetamarind and lime juice	14 gabout 2 1/2 tsp
Sugarpalm sugar, white sugar, brown sugar and honey	8 gabout 2 tsp
Total	1,242 g

1,242 g in all from 1 can, counting only the groups above.

Closest real recipe: Massaman Curry Thai (feastingathome.com).

The 3 real recipes nearest your numbers

Measured on curry paste, meat, fish or tofu, potatoes, onions, peanuts, fish or soy sauce, tamarind or lime and sugar at once. These are published, tested recipes: follow one for its method, or load its numbers and adjust from there.

1
Massaman Curry Thai · feastingathome.com
curry paste 32 g · meat, fish or tofu 340 g · potatoes 340 g · onions 10 g · peanuts 9 g · fish or soy sauce 18 g · tamarind or lime 13 g · sugar 10 g
2
Easy Beef Massaman Curry · beyondkimchee.com
curry paste 49 g · meat, fish or tofu 455 g · potatoes 343 g · onions 0 g · peanuts 35 g · fish or soy sauce 18 g · tamarind or lime 17 g · sugar 12 g
3
Massaman Curry · wellplated.com
curry paste 59 g · meat, fish or tofu 296 g · potatoes 237 g · onions 37 g · peanuts 30 g · fish or soy sauce 9.4 g · tamarind or lime 16 g · sugar 0 g

How the calculator works

Every recipe is reduced to grams of each ingredient group per can of coconut milk, a can counted as 400 g. The starting point is the median of all 95 recipes for each group separately, so no single recipe is exactly the starting pot. Grams are your number of cans times each amount, rounded to the nearest 5 g above 50 g and the nearest gram or half gram below.

“More than 80% of recipes” counts the recipes with strictly less of that ingredient per can of coconut milk. The nearest recipes are measured on every ingredient at once, each scaled by how much recipes vary on it, so a wide-ranging ingredient does not outweigh a narrow one.

Only the groups listed are counted. Spices, herbs, mix-ins and garnishes are left out unless they have their own slider. Volumes are approximate: a can of coconut milk counted as 400 g, about 1 2/3 cups; curry paste about 16 g a tablespoon; a medium potato 213 g; a medium onion 110 g; peanuts 145 g a cup; fish sauce 18 g a tablespoon; tamarind paste about 17 g a tablespoon; palm or brown sugar about 13 g a tablespoon.