Step-by-Step Recipe: Thai Red Chicken Curry

I hated Thai food until about five years ago.  True story!  Now I love it--particularly creamy coconut curries and pad see ew.  I found this recipe (which I have since altered a fair amount) on AllRecipes.com a few years ago, and I was excited that it was so simple to make.  Hopefully you won't have trouble finding the curry paste.  Even in a metropolitan area like I live in it can sometimes be a challenge.  The last time I tried to find it at my usual grocery store, all they had was the Indian kind--which is totally different--so I ended up at an Asian food market.  I now have enough red curry paste to last me for years.

Here we go!  Assemble the ingredients.

Then heat the oil in a large skillet (if you use non-stick, this might work better--I used my trusty stainless, and had more sticking than usual--though that may have been because I was trying to take pictures of a very fast-cooking meal!). Then add the cut up chicken.

Then add the red curry paste, peanut butter, and fish sauce.  If you've not cooked with red curry paste before, go easy here, unless you know you like it spicy.  The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon, and that made it nearly inedible for me.  My poor husband about died.

Add the garlic and ginger, then the veggies: onions first, then carrots, followed by pepper.  The carrots and onions take longest to cook.

Then add the sugar snap peas and stir everything so it gets coated.

Let everything cook for a bit, then stir in the coconut milk with cornstarch.

Stir well and bring to a boil.  Let simmer for just a minute.  If using the cilantro, add in now and remove from heat.  I didn't have any cilantro since some stupid chipmunk dug up my plant in June.  And voila...Thai curry at home.  Maybe not that authentic, but it tastes good.

I like to serve this with brown rice (that pre-cooked Minute Rice stuff is pretty good), or Trader Joe's Lime Pilaf.  I know it seems like overkill, but it is the very definition of deliciousness, and it heats in the microwave in 2 minutes.  But white rice is fine, too, if you want to be boring.  Ha!

Enjoy!

Thai Red Chicken Curry, altered from recipe on AllRecipes.com
Time: 20-25 minutes.  Serves: 4.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into thin strips
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste (to taste--this is HOT!)*
• 1 to 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter*
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce*
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced*
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger*
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares
• 1/2 cup sliced carrots
• 1 onion, quartered then halved
• 1 cup sugar snap peas*
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1 to 2 tablespoons light brown sugar* (this mellows the heat a bit if you overdid it on the curry paste)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
 

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken pieces; cook and stir for about 3 minutes. 
2. Mix in the curry paste, peanut butter, garlic, ginger, bell pepper, carrot, onion and peas. Cook and stir for a few minutes.
3. Dissolve the cornstarch in the coconut milk, then pour into the skillet. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for 1 minute. 
4. Right before serving, stir in the cilantro. Serve with rice.