Massaman Curry Lab95 recipes
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What goes into massaman curry

The main ingredient list of all 95 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: full-fat and light coconut milk are coconut milk, palm sugar and jaggery are one sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Massaman and red curry paste stay apart. Garnishes and the rice to serve are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • For the paste, 69% use massaman paste alone, 13% no curry paste, and 5% curry paste of no named kind alone.
  • For the main ingredient, 33% use chicken alone, 26% vegetables alone, and 25% beef alone.
  • Of the recipes with something sour, 58% use tamarind alone, 30% lime juice alone, and 3% tamarind and lime juice together.
  • Of the recipes with a sweetener, 36% use palm sugar alone, 27% brown sugar alone, and 20% white sugar alone.
  • 63% add nuts, 57% garlic, ginger or herbs and 48% spice; 8% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 1 can, the size of a typical pot. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical pot on every ingredient.

Massaman paste, another paste or homemade

Each recipe counted once, by the curry paste in it.

  • Massaman paste only

    median 49 g curry paste · closest to typical: Chicken Massaman Curry (favfamilyrecipes.com)

    69%66 recipes

  • No curry paste

    closest to typical: Massaman curry (leukerecepten.nl)

    13%13 recipes

  • Curry paste of no named kind only

    median 49 g curry paste · closest to typical: Curry massaman (cuisineaz.com)

    5%5 recipes

  • Red curry paste only

    median 32 g curry paste · closest to typical: Massaman Curry Thai (feastingathome.com)

    5%5 recipes

  • Massaman paste, red curry paste and a homemade paste

    closest to typical: Thaise massaman curry (ohmyfoodness.nl)

    3%3 recipes

  • Everything else

    3%3 recipes

Beef, chicken, something else or none

Each recipe counted once, by the meat, fish or tofu in it.

  • Chicken only

    median 464 g meat, fish or tofu · closest to typical: Massaman Curry Thai (feastingathome.com)

    33%32 recipes

  • Vegetables only

    closest to typical: Massaman-Curry mit Schwein (kuechengoetter.de)

    26%25 recipes

  • Beef only

    median 474 g meat, fish or tofu · closest to typical: Easy Beef Massaman Curry (beyondkimchee.com)

    25%24 recipes

  • Tofu only

    median 256 g meat, fish or tofu · closest to typical: Massaman Curry Recipe (sweetsimplevegan.com)

    7%7 recipes

  • Lamb only

    median 1182 g meat, fish or tofu · closest to typical: Massaman Lamb Curry (wenthere8this.com)

    5%5 recipes

  • Everything else

    2%2 recipes

Tamarind, lime or both

Among the 60 recipes with something sour.

  • Tamarind only

    median 18 g tamarind, lime or vinegar · closest to typical: Massaman Curry Thai (feastingathome.com)

    58%35 recipes

  • Lime juice only

    median 16 g tamarind, lime or vinegar · closest to typical: Massaman Curry (wellplated.com)

    30%18 recipes

  • Tamarind and lime juice

    closest to typical: Massaman Curry Recipe (sweetsimplevegan.com)

    3%2 recipes

  • Tamarind and vinegar

    closest to typical: Vegan Massaman Curry with Chickpeas (urbanfarmie.com)

    3%2 recipes

  • Vinegar only

    closest to typical: Massaman-Curry (gutekueche.at)

    3%2 recipes

  • Everything else

    1%1 recipe

Palm sugar, brown sugar or white

Among the 65 recipes with a sweetener.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 8% add none of these. Meat or fish is one of the dish's own ratios on the overview rather than an add-in, so it is left out here.

  • Nuts63%

    peanuts 52% · cashews 11%

  • Garlic, ginger or herbs57%

    garlic 29% · coriander leaves 27% · ginger 24%

  • Spice48%

    cinnamon 26% · cardamom 20% · bay leaves 15%

  • Fruit, raisins or carrots20%

    carrot 15% · pineapple 1% · pumpkin 1%

  • Fresh or dried chiles18%

    fresh chiles 16% · sriracha 1% · chile flakes 1%

  • Jalapeños or other savory4%

    jalapeño or chile 4%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 95 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 1 can.

  1. Coconut milk93%

    89 recipes

  2. Potato83%

    79 recipes · median 355 g

  3. Massaman curry paste73%

    70 recipes · median 49 g

  4. Fish sauce57%

    55 recipes · median 25 g

  5. Peanuts52%

    50 recipes · median 36 g

  6. Onion51%

    49 recipes · median 108 g

  7. Vegetable oil48%

    46 recipes · median 21 g

  8. Salt46%

    44 recipes · median 2.4 g

  9. Tamarind41%

    39 recipes · median 18 g

  10. Water40%

    38 recipes · median 233 g

  11. Chicken34%

    33 recipes · median 454 g

  12. Garlic29%

    28 recipes · median 6 g

  13. Palm sugar or jaggery28%

    27 recipes · median 14 g

  14. Coriander leaves27%

    26 recipes · median 2 g

  15. Cinnamon26%

    25 recipes · median 3 g

  16. Beef or veal25%

    24 recipes · median 474 g

  17. Ginger24%

    23 recipes · median 6 g

  18. Brown sugar22%

    21 recipes · median 14 g

  19. Lime juice22%

    21 recipes · median 15 g

  20. Cardamom20%

    19 recipes · median 0.8 g

  21. Fresh chiles16%

    16 recipes

  22. Granulated sugar16%

    16 recipes · median 8 g

  23. Bay leaves15%

    15 recipes · median 0.3 g

  24. Carrot15%

    15 recipes · median 102 g

  25. Star anise15%

    15 recipes · median 1.5 g

  26. Black pepper14%

    14 recipes

  27. Shallots14%

    14 recipes · median 41 g

  28. Cloves13%

    13 recipes

  29. Lemongrass13%

    13 recipes

  30. Cumin12%

    12 recipes · median 1.1 g

  31. Cashews11%

    11 recipes · median 28 g

  32. Peanut butter10%

    10 recipes · median 9 g

Toppings and extras

47% of recipes (45 of 95) list something beyond the main recipe: a garnish or the rice to serve it with. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Coriander leaves14% (14)
  • Peanuts9% (9)
  • Fresh chiles3% (3)
  • Vegetable oil3% (3)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 can coconut milk” and “full-fat coconut milk” are both coconut milk, and a line that offers a choice (“palm sugar or brown sugar”) counts as the first one named. A recipe that makes its own paste lists the paste’s ingredients; they count together as curry paste.

Lines for garnishing or serving count as extras, wherever the line says so, and so does the rice served with the curry.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups, spoons and counts with standard weights. Scaling them to 1 can lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.