Massaman curry paste substitutes

The most available Thai paste, warmed up with sweet dry spice to bridge the gap.

Best for

beef or chicken massaman with potatoes, the swap most home cooks can actually assemble, slow-simmered curries

Red paste is hotter and much more chili-forward, so the curry comes out brighter and sharper and less rounded. Use two thirds of the amount if you are heat-sensitive. Two things close the gap almost completely: throw a handful of roasted peanuts and a cinnamon stick into the pot, and add a teaspoon of tamarind paste, because sour-sweet-salty in that order is what makes a curry read as massaman.

The thick, sweet, peanut-inflected Thai paste, which is the nearest neighbour on the shelf.

Best for

when you have one Thai paste and it happens to be panang, chicken massaman, richer, thicker curries

Closest single jar, because panang already has the sweetness, the roasted nuttiness and the body that massaman needs. What it lacks is the warm dry spice, so add the cinnamon and cardamom. Panang is also saltier and more kaffir lime forward, so go easy on the fish sauce and taste before you add any.

The mildest Thai paste, spiced up toward massaman.

Best for

cooking for children, potato and chicken curries, matching massaman's low heat exactly

This is the best match on heat level, which matters more than people think, since a hot massaman is simply wrong. The trade-off is colour and flavour direction: yellow paste is turmeric-forward, so the curry comes out golden and a little earthier and brighter rather than massaman's deep brown. A teaspoon of tamarind and a spoonful of peanut butter push it closer.

The real thing from scratch, which is the only version that genuinely tastes like massaman.

Best for

getting it actually right, cooks with an Asian grocer nearby, batch-making and freezing

Toast 1 teaspoon coriander seed, 1 teaspoon cumin seed, 2 cardamom pods, 1 star anise, 2 cloves and a 2 cm cinnamon stick in a dry pan until fragrant, then grind. Blend with 4 dried red chilies soaked in hot water and seeded, 1 shallot, 3 garlic cloves, the tender part of 1 lemongrass stalk, 1 tablespoon grated galangal or ginger, 1 teaspoon shrimp paste, 1 teaspoon palm sugar and half a teaspoon salt, adding a splash of the chili soaking water. It keeps two weeks in the fridge and months frozen in cubes.

An Indian jarred paste standing in, which works better than you would expect.

Best for

supermarket-only shopping, beef and potato curries, when there is no Thai paste in the house

This works because massaman is itself a Thai adaptation of a Muslim Indian and Persian style of curry, so the warm spice profile already overlaps. Korma is the closer of the two on sweetness and mildness; madras will be hotter and more tomato-forward. What you lose is lemongrass and galangal, so the curry tastes less fresh and citrusy. Cook it with coconut milk, a teaspoon of tamarind, palm sugar and a handful of roasted peanuts and it lands surprisingly close.

The bare pantry option.

Best for

no paste of any kind available, a mild coconut potato curry, weeknight cooking

This is the least-good option on the page and it is worth saying so plainly. With no lemongrass, galangal or chili paste it comes out flat and slightly dusty, and the tomato paste is doing the work of giving it colour and body. Fry the powder in oil for 45 seconds before liquid goes in, and finish with peanuts, tamarind or lime, and palm sugar. You will get a pleasant mild coconut curry, not massaman.