Rich and creamy Thai red Curry have chicken and vegetables. It packs fresh flavours, and you need just 30 minutes to make it. It tastes fantastic when served with Jasmin rice.
If you wonder how Thai red curry can have fresh flavours by using bottled Red curry paste, read along, and you will find the secret.
If you are on a hunt for Thai or Asian recipes, you may have a look at Thai Grilled Chicken, Thai chicken noodle soup & basic chicken stock, Chicken Meatballs with Asian sauce and Egg Fried Rice.
A bowl of hot rice with curry is comfort food for us. We love Thai curries, and it's pretty regular at home. You can load it up with vegetables and protein. And the best part is it takes less than 30 minutes to make it. So definitely a perfect curry to make on busy days.
There are so many versions of Thai curry you would find on the web. The recipe shared below is something I make regularly and have improvised over the years. It is very versatile, and you adjust as per your taste.
Thai Red Curry Recipe
While Thai Curry pastes made from scratch at home is always the best, it is not always feasible. Red curry paste calls for a long list of ingredients, and it can sometimes be difficult to source a few ingredients. So, keeping a jar of red curry paste always comes in handy.
Bottled Curry paste is quite intense in flavour, but it lacks freshness. So to lift the flavours and add some freshness, we add some fresh aromatic like fresh Thai basil, lemongrass, ginger-garlic and fresh cilantro roots.
Bottled Thai Red Curry Paste
There are many brands of curry paste available in the market. You can use any of your favourite brands.
Authentic Red curry paste contains shrimp paste, which gives umami. If you are allergic to shrimp, make sure you read the label before buying.
Ingredients you need
Boneless Chicken thighs- Cut into thin strips. Chicken thighs are the juiciest meat, but you can substitute them with chicken breast. If using chicken breast, then reduce the cooking time, else chicken breast will quickly get overcooked.
Coconut Milk- full-fat coconut milk for a rich, creamy curry.
Red curry Paste- Any good quality red curry paste will do.
Aromatics- Ginger, garlic, fresh lemon zest, minced cilantro root(root is packed with flavour), Thai basil. These ingredients will take the flavours to another level.
Sugar and Fresh lemon Juice
Fish Sauce- it is a must in Thai curries. The savoury sauce gives the curry 'Umami'.
Veggies- I have added Zucchini and peppers. You could use green beans, carrots, broccoli or pumpkin. Add the veggies as per their cooking time. Start with tougher veggies and add soft veggies to the end.
Wondering, If Thai red curry is spicy? The colour may look so, but it's not at all spicy. In fact, I sometimes add a red chilli to make it spicy. The different ingredients used in Thai curry paste gives it colour. Coconut milk also mellows down the curry to a reasonable extent.
Tips for best result
- Use chicken thighs for juciest meat.
- Don't skip the aromatics, as they bring life to the rather dull curry paste.
- Fish sauce is a must. I know the smell will put you off, but trust me it makes a lot of difference. Fish sauce gives a more rounded flavour.
- Intensity of bottled curry paste might vary depending on the brand. You can add more sugar or lemon juice and adjust the seasoning.
- Try not to use more than two veggies.
Serve with
Thai red curry is best served with plain rice/basmati rice, which is neutral in flavour and taste, and the curry gets soaked in them. Jeera rice is another good option with cumin in it and will go well with Thai curry.
More Curry Recipes
Chicken Thai Red Curry
Ingredients
- 500 grams Boneless Chicken Thighs cut into thin strips
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 4 tablespoon Red Curry Paste (ref not 1)
- ½ Onion sliced
- ½ tablespoon Garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon Ginger minced
- ½ tablespoon Coriander Stem minced
- 1 stalk Lemon grass (ref notes - 2)
- 2 teaspoon Fish Sauce
- ½ tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
- 1 Red Bell Pepper cut into wedges
- 1 cup Zucchini cut
- 1.5 cup Coconut Milk full fat
- 1 cup Stock / Water
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 8-10 leaves Thai Basil roughly torn
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet. Add sliced onion, minced ginger, and garlic. Saute for a minute until it is aromatic.
- Add red curry paste and minced coriander root. Saute for 2-3 minutes until oil starts oozing out on the side, and the mixture is aromatic.
- Add coconut milk, stock, lemon zest, brown sugar, fish sauce, and lemongrass stalk. Mix well and let everything come to a boil. Simmer and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chicken and let it simmer for 7-8 minutes.
- Add the veggies when the chicken is almost cooked/ and the sauce has reduced almost by half (or to the consistency you are looking for).
- Cook for another 2 minutes, until the veggies are just cooked but still have a crunch to them.
- Remove the lemongrass stalk, Add torn Thai basil.
- Serve over rice with more garnishing of basil and fresh coriander leaves.
Video
Notes
- Store-bought curry paste is very intense, so 4-5 tablespoons of curry paste work the best. Suppose using fresh curry paste use from ½ - ¾ cup of curry paste.
- It's easy to crush a stalk of lemongrass(only the white part) to add flavour to the curry. Instead, you can use roughly 1 teaspoon readymade lemongrass paste or fresh lemongrass paste.
- Add up to 2 cups of veggies. You can use chopped squash, green beans, or snow peas as well to the curry.
- Try to use full-fat coconut milk for a rich and creamy sauce.
- You can adjust the seasoning to your liking by adding more fish sauce or sugar to the sauce.
Leave a Reply