Thai red chicken curry

By Trudy

To make our Thai red curries we typically use an authentic pre-made spice paste. Not many years ago you could only buy Thai curry paste from specialty Asian food stores, but now most large supermarkets stock it. It lasts for ages in the fridge, so we always have tubs of both red and green curry paste to use in curries, laksas, stir-fries, sauces, soups, marinades, and Thai fish cakes.

The red curry paste we love the most is Mae-Ploy brand, and it's the perfect blend of red chilies, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, galangal, shrimp paste and kaffir lime. It’s nice and spicy, so a tablespoon is plenty to make this curry medium-hot.

serves 2

A traditional Thai red curry made with a subtle blend of hot, salty, sweet and sour flavors to get the taste buds tingling. You can make your own curry paste from scratch, however to save time we recommend you buy a good-quality pre-made Thai curry paste.

2 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
1 onion — finely chopped
1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
2 cloves garlic — finely chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 zucchini — sliced into thin rounds
1 red pepper — cut into thin strips
½ cup Jasmine rice
12 oz (340g) raw skinless chicken breast fillets — cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour) mixed to a paste with 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onion for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the curry paste and garlic and cook, stirring, for a minute. ADD the coconut milk, stock, fish sauce, sugar and salt, then bring to the boil. ADD the red pepper and zucchini, cover with a lid, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 12 minutes. WHILE the curry simmers, cook the rice. ADD the chicken to the curry and simmer, covered, for a further 8 minutes. ADD the cornstarch paste and stir continuously until the curry thickens, then stir in the lemon juice and basil. SERVE on a bed of rice.

Variations: This curry tastes equally delicious using any selection of seafood (such as shrimp, scallops or pieces of firm fish), or cubed firm tofu. You can also use a variety of different vegetables with this curry including shredded cabbage, thinly sliced carrot or green beans. Be flexible and adapt the recipe to make the most of seasonal produce.

This is one of the recipes from our cookbook The MediterrAsian Way.

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