Thai Red Chicken Curry

Thai cuisine is very popular around the world and I tried various veg and non-veg Thai soups. But I never tried that chicken curry before though I tested in the restaurant. The fresh aroma of lemongrass and mild flavour of coconut milk makes me really crazy. Generally, the dish is made from red curry paste, coconut milk, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs.

Today I made thai chicken red curry with homemade red curry paste. They are so delicious and flavourful that my family love them so much. I made some variations by adding some veggies and used bone-in chicken pieces. For the aromatic red curry paste, I used lemongrass, lemon zest, dry red chillies, ginger-garlic and some spices like cumin powder, curry or coriander powder. Traditionally galangal and kafer lime leaves are used. As I didn’t find them, I replaced galangal with ginger and in place of Kafer lime, added lemon juice and lemon zest. The outcome was really satisfying. The pungency of the curry is perfectly balanced with thick coconut milk and carrot.

Recipe

Preparation time: 30 min
Cooking time: 45 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty level: medium

Ingredients

500 g Chicken pieces (I used some boneless and some bone in)
1 big Potato
1 big Carrot
2 chopped Onion
4-5 chopped Garlic
1 inch chopped Galangal/Ginger
1-2 chopped fresh red Chilli
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder
1 teaspoon Curry powder/Coriander powder
400 ml Coconut milk (I used canned one)
3 tablespoon Cooking oil
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon homemade red Curry paste
Spring onion, Mint leaves to garnish

Ingredients for red curry paste

1 tablespoon Ginger-Garlic paste
2 stick Lemon grass(if not available add 1 lemon leave)
5-6 dry red Chilli (soaked for an hour with hot water)
5-6 stock of Coriander stem (optional, I didn’t use)
Zest of 1 Lemon
1 tablespoon Lemon juice
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon Curry powder/Coriander powder

Procedure

Soak 5-6 red chilli in hot water for an hour. For milder taste use Kashmiri dry red chilli.

Chop lemongrass in small pieces. If you don’t get them to use chopped fresh lemon leave.

To make curry paste take a grinder jar and add in soaked red chillies, ginger-garlic paste, lemongrass, lemon zest, cumin powder, curry powder/coriander powder, sugar, salt and lemon juice.

Grind to a smooth paste with little water. Keep aside. If you like you can also add some chopped coriander stem during grinding. I personally don’t like its taste and hence didn’t add.

Take 500 g chicken. I used both bone-in and some boneless. You can use only boneless pieces if you like. Chicken with bone gives more flavour to the dish.

I also used some veggies like potato and carrot. You can skip using them or you can use other veggies also you like. I used carrot as it’s sweetness helps to balance the pungency of the curry.

Heat a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Saute chopped ginger-garlic and red chilli for 15-20 seconds.

Add in chopped onion and cook until they become soft.

Now add in prepared red curry paste and stir well to fry for 2 minutes. Your kitchen will fill with the aroma of lemongrass and lemon.

Add in 2 tablespoons of water to prevent the spices from burning.

Add in chicken pieces, stir well to mix.

Also add in the potato and carrot pieces, cumin powder, curry powder, turmeric powder and salt.

Stir well so that everything incorporates nicely and then add in 2 cups of hot water.

Cover and cook in medium heat for 30 minutes or until chicken and veggies cook completely.

Open unshaken can of coconut milk. Spoon out 1 tablespoon of thick coconut cream from the top to garnish.Keep aside.

When chicken and veggies cook completely, add in the coconut milk to the curry. Keep flame in low heat so that milk doesn’t curdle in hot curry.

Cook the curry in medium heat for further 5 minutes to come to a boil. Adjust seasoning. The taste should be pungent with slight sweetness. Remove from heat.

Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with coconut cream, spring onion and mint leaves. If you can add in some thai basil leaves or kafer lime leaves to garnish.