Delicious Thai Curry Recipes
Thai Cooking Ingredients Include Coconut Milk and Lemongrass
Apr 27, 2009
To make a curry paste it would be a good idea to have a granite mortar and pestle to mix the spices thoroughly. If you're preparing a Thai dish for the first time a small blender or a coffee grinder will do fine. Some essential pieces of cookware you will need are a small pot to cook some jasmine or coconut rice, a sharpened chef's knife and a medium sized saucepan. Once you get the necessary ingredients listed below you'll be ready to begin cooking.
Yellow Chicken Curry
Here's an easy recipe to get you started. To make the curry paste you'll need the following ingredients:
- Twelve dried chillies
- Two peeled shallots
- Four peeled cloves of garlic
- Two teaspoons each of curry powder and sea salt
- One stalk of sliced lemongrass
- One teaspoon each of cumin seeds and shrimp paste
- One tablespoon of coriander seeds
- One peeled ginger root
Then buy these items:
- One pound of chicken (cut this into smaller pieces)
- Two or three small red potatoes (scrub and peel them)
- A one half can of coconut milk
- Fish sauce
Preparation Method
Get a small mixing bowl and combine the curry paste with a tablespoon of water. Then, in a medium sized saucepan add the paste to the coconut milk. Stir it up well then put in the chicken pieces with the potatoes. Throw in a half tablespoon of sea salt. Bring it up to a medium boil and let it sit for about forty-five minutes until the chicken and potatoes are cooked. Add the fish sauce at the end and do a taste test before serving. If it's too salty add more lime juice and if the dish is too spicy put some more coconut milk into it. Serve with jasmine rice and enjoy.
Massaman Curry
This is an especially tasty curry from the southern part of Thailand near Malaysia and it would be comforting on a cold night. It's milder than some other curries because peanuts, coconut cream and potatoes absorb the heat of the spices. Here's how to make this dish. You can substitute chicken with beef or pork.
For the paste, use these ingredients:
- Three dried red chillies (seeded and soaked)
- Two bulbs of roasted garlic
- Five roasted shallots
- One tablespoon each of roasted lemongrass and coriander seeds
- One teaspoon each of cumin, sea salt, white pepper, shrimp paste and galangal (this is similar to ginger but with a more delicate flavour)
- Two ground roasted cloves
Then buy these items:
- One pound of chicken (you can use chicken legs)
- One cup of coconut cream
- Two cups of coconut milk
- Five potatoes
- Five small onions
- Five roasted cardamom pods
- Two tablespoons each of roasted peanuts and fish sauce
- Three tablespoons each of lime juice, palm sugar and tamarind concentrate
- One roasted cinnamon stick
Preparation Method
- Heat the coconut milk over the stove until it boils and then add the chicken.
- Turn the heat down and let it simmer for about fifteen minutes.
- Preheat the coconut cream over medium heat until you see the oil come to the surface.
- Put the curry paste in and mix it together well. Then, put everything into the chicken pot along with the peanuts.
- Add the sugar, lime juice, palm sugar and tamarind juice.
- Finally, add all of the other ingredients and let it simmer until everything is cooked. Serve with coconut or jasmine rice with some bay leaves.
*Remember to stir the coconut milk occasionally because it can burn easily on the bottom of the pan.
