Burmese curry refers to a diverse array of dishes inBurmese cuisine that consist of meat or vegetables simmered or stewed in an aromatic curry base.[1] Burmese curries generally differ from other Southeast Asiancurries (e.g.,Thai curry) in that Burmese curries make use of driedspices in addition to fresh herbs and aromatics, and are often milder.[2] Burmese curries are readily available in curry houses throughout the country. They are traditionally accompanied with rice and a variety of side dishes, soups, andBurmese salads calledathoke. Burmese curries may also be paired withIndian breads likenanbya,palata,aloo puri, andtoshay.
TheBurmese language does not have a single word for "curry;" the closest approximation is the wordhin (ဟင်း), which is used to describe most protein-based dishes eaten with rice.[5] Burmese curries can be generally categorized by cooking technique, incorporated ingredients, or region.
Chickensibyan (ကြက်သားဆီပြန်) – the classic Burmese curry, served with a thick gravy of aromatics[13][8]
Bachelor's chicken curry (ကြက်ကာလသားချက်) – a red and watery chicken curry cooked withcalabash[14][13]
Kachin-style chicken curry (ကြက်ကချင်ချက်) – an herbal curry of chicken cooked with basil, sawtooth coriander,Vietnamese coriander, and driedmetlin bark[15]
Mon-style chicken curry (ကြက်မွန်ချက်) – a watery chicken curry, cooked with driedmarian plum, lemongrass stalks and sawtooth coriander[16]
Chicken and potato curry (ကြက်သားဟင်း) – an Indian-inspired curry of chicken and potatoes cooked with a masala spice mix[17][8]
Chicken and chickpea curry (ကြက်သားကုလားပဲချက်)
Ducksibyan (ဘဲသားဆီပြန်) – a curry of duck cooked with dried spices (e.g., star anise or cumin), and served with a thick gravy of aromatics[18]
Khayan thi ngachauk chet (ခရမ်းသီးငါးခြောက်ချက်) –aubergine cooked lightly with a small amount of oil, with dried fish and chilli
Kima palata (ကီးမားပလာတာ) – a paratha stuffed with curriedground meat (keema)
Pyay palata (ပြည်ပလာတာ) – a salad of paratha, chicken and potato curry, and raw onions[25]
Tofu curry (တိုဟူးချက်) – SlicedBurmese tofu curried with fresh tomatoes, onions and garlic, cooked in peanut oil andfish sauce, and garnished with coriander and green chilli
Specially prepared curries also form the base for several Burmese noodle dishes, including:
Ohn no khauk swe (အုန်းနို့ခေါက်ဆွဲ) – a coconut milk noodle soup, served in a broth of chicken curry
Shwedaung khauk swe (ရွှေတောင်ခေါက်ဆွဲ) – a dry noodle dish of egg noodles, served with chicken curry and coconut milk[13]
Nangyi thoke (နန်းကြီးသုပ်) – a salad of thick rice noodles, mixed with chicken curry and gravy
Panthay khauk swe (ပန်းသေးခေါက်ဆွဲ) – a fried noodle dish of Chinese Muslim origin, served with a chicken curry cooked in a blend of spices includingcardamom,cloves,star anise, andbay leaf[26]
Kaeng hang le is a pork curry and a regional specialty inNorthern Thailand. It is a local adaptation of similar Burmese pork curries; the name "hang le" is derived from theBurmese word "hin lay" (ဟင်းလေး, transcribedhang le), which means "heavy curry."[27][28] Manyrestaurants inChiang Mai call it ‘Burmese curry.’
Khow suey, also known askhausa, is a South Asian adaptation of the Burmese coconut milk curry noodle soup calledohn no khao swè. It was introduced to the region by theMemon community ofIndia who adapted this dish, likely coinciding with the emigration of South Asians from Burma in the 1960s, and is now a Memon specialty.[29]
