Thai red curry

Thai red curry with juicy chunks of chicken in a creamy, coconut milk and red paste sauce. A full flavoured Thai curry recipe, which is family friendly, easy to make at home, and prepared with a fresh, easy to make Thai red curry paste.

This delicious Thai red curry is another full flavoured curry thats so easy to make and so tasty that its just got to be on that mid-week-dinner list as well as the weekend-treat list. If its not Thai red curry then theres plenty of other tasty options:

• Thai green curry with homemade Thai green curry paste 
• Massaman curry with homemade Massaman curry paste.
• Panang curry or Thai yellow curry; both made with homemade Thai yellow curry paste
• Jungle curry with homemade Thai red curry paste
• Chicken Tikka Masala Curry
• Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry
• Or for more recipe ideas for a cosy night in have a look at my dinner ideas for two collection.

👩🏻‍🍳 Recipe inspiration

Ive based this recipe on curries I made in 2012 in Thailand when attending the Siam Rice cookery school in Chang Mai, Northern Thailand.

On this cookery course I had access to a traditional Thai food market and used fresh, whole spices. I can’t say its always convenient to get out a pestle and mortar and grind whole spices into powders. Nor is it always possible to get hold of all the traditional Thai ingredients that I used in Thailand. However, It is possible to closely match ingredients and of course use pre ground spices for the curry and the Thai red curry paste, which is what I have done for this recipe. 

🍛 Common ingredients in Thai curries

For a Thai curry that ticks all the boxes, the main ingredients I like to use include:

• Galangal (Kha) - this is Thai ginger and is now available as a jarred paste in supermarkets. As a substitute you can use finely chopped fresh ginger or standard, jarred ginger paste
• Lemongrass (Ta krai) - The lemongrass stem is used in Thai cooking and is usually added into the paste. Both fresh and jarred lemongrass can be found in UK supermarkets.
• Kaffir lime (Makrut) - again this ingredient is usually combined into the paste, but can be added to the curry itself. Traditional recipes use the kaffir lime peel but in the UK its easier to source dried or jarred Kaffir leaves.
• Turmeric (Kha min) - very occasionally I come across fresh turmeric in my local farm shop! But for the most part I use ground turmeric.

Note: Thai translations above are taken from the information I gained at the Siam Rice cookery school in Chang Mai, Thailand

🥘 What you will need to make this recipe

To make this recipe for 2 people you will need the following ingredients

• 200 g courgette cut into circles ½ cm thick
• ½ tbsp oil for courgettes
• Salt to season courgettes
• 150 g sliced shallots
• 1 clove finely chopped or minced garlic
• Small piece of finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks 260g
• 2 ½ tbsp red curry paste - homemade or jarred
• 400 ml tin of full fat coconut milk
• 2 medium red bell peppers roughly chopped 220g
• 1 tbsp plain flour mixed with a bit of cold water to form a paste
• Splash of fish sauce
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• ½ juice of a lime
• Fresh red chillies, basil leaves and coriander leaves for toppings (optional)
• Basmati rice to serve (optional)

🔪 Step by step instructions

1. In a large pan stir fry garlic, shallots, fresh ginger and chicken. When sealed all over transfer to a bowl and set to one side
2. Place the same pan back on the heat and add Thai red paste (homemade paste or from a jar).
3. Next add a tin of coconut milk to the paste and stir well. To thicken, add 1 tbsp flour mixed with a little water.
4. Add chopped bell pepper.
5. Return the sealed chicken and shallots to the pan and stir in well.
6. Season with palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice
7. Mix in roasted courgettes (optional)
8. Top with fresh coriander and finely sliced red chilli

🌶 Red Curry Paste

Theres something extra special about homemade curry pastes. The joy of a Thai red curry paste is its versatility. Once you have a base of Thai red curry paste not only can you use it to make this delicious Thai red curry recipe but you can also use it to make:

• Thai yellow curry paste and Thai yellow curry
• Massaman paste and Massaman curry
• Jungle curry
• Panang curry.

Thai red curry paste is also freezable, so I now have a freezer drawer full of little pots of Thai red red paste. Any time I want to make a curry, I just pop a frozen portion of paste into the microwave and its ready to use in a couple of minutes.

Other curry pastes that are great for freezing include Thai green curry paste and homemade tikka masala curry paste.

🥘 What is red curry paste made of?

• Fresh red chillies
• Shallots
• Garlic paste
• Thai galangal (ginger)
• Lemongrass
• Kaffir lime leaves
• Fish sauce
• Ground coriander and turmeric

The red colour of this Thai red paste recipe predominantly comes from the larger red chillies. As such, it tends to be milder than green curry paste, which traditionally uses the smaller green finger chillies. Although, I use the larger green chillies in my own Thai green paste - just to keep the heat down. The smaller green chillies are also used in Indian cooking and are particularly good in drier dishes like fish biryani.

🥕 Using vegetables in curries

I love to throw a couple of veggies into my curries, it creates a bit of interest and flavour as well as adding in some of those all important vitamins and minerals. Bell pepper is always a winner in any curry and I simply love the hearty and slightly bitter flavour of courgette, particularly against the creamy background of a coconut curry.

In this recipe I sliced, seasoned and roasted the courgette before mixing into the curry. This intensifies the flavour and also gets rid of any excess water in the courgette, which would have otherwise seeped into the curry sauce and made it thinner. Courgette is also a great option if you're cooking a vegetarian option due to its meaty texture and earthy flavour. Lentil and chickpeas are also a great choice for boosting the protein in a vegetarian curry, like in this red lentil tarka dahl.

💭 Recipe tips

Let me know what you think of this Thai red curry recipe by leaving a comment and rating below! You can also save this recipe on Pinterest: Thai red curry. Or if you prefer you can pin the video!

📖 Recipe

📋 Thai red curry (+Recipe Video)

By: Debbie Jones

Thai red curry with juicy chunks of chicken in a creamy, coconut milk and red paste sauce. An authentic Thai recipe, which is family friendly and easy to make at home in under 30 minutes.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Dinner, Main Course, main meal

Cuisine Thai, Thailand

Servings 2 people

Calories 602.5 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 200 g courgette cut into circles ½ cm thick
• ▢ ½ tbsp oil for courgettes
• ▢ Salt to season courgettes
• ▢ 150 g sliced shallots
• ▢ 1 clove finely chopped or minced garlic
• ▢ Small piece of finely chopped fresh ginger
• ▢ 2 chicken breast cut into bite sized chunks 260g
• ▢ 2 ½ tbsp red curry paste - homemade or from a jar
• ▢ 400 ml tin of full fat coconut milk
• ▢ 2 medium red bell peppers roughly chopped 220g
• ▢ 1 tbsp plain flour mixed with a bit of cold water to form a paste
• ▢ Splash of fish sauce
• ▢ 2 tsp palm sugar
• ▢ ½ juice of a lime

Toppings

• ▢ Freshly sliced red chillies
• ▢ Fresh basil leaves
• ▢ Fresh coriander leaves

To serve

• ▢ Basmati rice

Instructions

 

• Start by preparing the courgettes. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Slice the courgette into ¼ cm thick circles and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt then bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Set to one side to cool.
• Next prepare the curry. Place a large, shallow pan on a medium heat. Add half tbsp oil and the chopped garlic to the pan. Fry the garlic for 10-20 seconds to allow the flavour to be released. Next add the slice shallots and ginger and continue to cook until soft. Add the chicken to the pan and stir fry with the shallots until sealed all over. Transfer the chicken and shallots to a bowl and set to one side.
  
• Return the pan to the heat. Add 2 ½ to 3 tbsp of red curry paste (homemade or from a jar) and briefly cook for 30 seconds to allow the flavours to be released. Next add the whole tin of coconut milk and mix well with the paste. Whilst the coconut milk is still relatively cool add the chopped bell pepper and then pour in the flour paste. Stir continually whilst the liquid heats up and gradually thickens.
  
• Once thickened return the shallot and chicken to the pan and stir in to the coconut and red paste sauce. Add a splash of fish sauce and 2 tsp of palm sugar to season.
  
• Before a final blast of heat transfer the roasted courgettes to the pan and stir in.
  
• Allow the pan to gently heat to a slight boil, squeeze over some lime juice and then remove from the heat,
  
• Serve with your choice of rice or naan bread (or both) and top with freshly sliced chillies, fresh basil leaves and fresh coriander (optional).
  

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 645g | Calories: 602.5kcal | Carbohydrates: 27.9g | Protein: 37.2g | Fat: 37.9g | Saturated Fat: 27.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2.8g | Sodium: 480mg | Potassium: 1286.4mg | Fiber: 4.4g | Sugar: 19.5g | Vitamin A: 206.8IU | Vitamin C: 171.5mg | Calcium: -681.6mg | Iron: 4.1mg

Notes

Substitution for homemade red paste: If you don’t have time to make the paste the best alternative is to buy a jar of pre-made paste. However, homemade paste can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for up to a week or frozen for up to 3 months.

Veg substitutions: If you’re not a massive fan of courgette then definitely swap in for your preferred veg. Such as baby corn, red onion, finely chopped carrot, broccoli, pak choi, aubergine, green beans – whatever takes your fancy.

Extra spiciness: If you like your Thai red curry spicy then add chopped, fresh red chillies during cooking.

How to make curry sauce thicker: Use full fat coconut milk in the recipe. The reduced fat versions are more watery and so will ultimately thin out the curry sauce. Coconut milk can also lose its consistency when boiled rapidly over a prolonged period. So even though reducing a sauce does thicken it, rapidly boiling the curry in this instance will not help. When making this recipe, ensure that the the finished curry is heated gently until just boiling before serving. 

Other options for thickening a curry sauce include:

1. Add full fat yogurt, but be aware that this will reduce the spiciness of the dish, so you may need to add more chillies at the same time. Only add yogurt right at the end of cooking – too much heat and the yogurt will curdle. Take the Thai green off the heat and stir in enough yogurt to reach your desired consistency.
2. Instead of serving rice at the side, mix it directly into your curry whilst still in the pan. Then serve.
3. If adding vegetable that release water during cooking (e.g. courgettes, mushrooms) roast these in the oven first and then mix into the finished curry.
4. Add flour to the curry - this method is used in this recipe. To avoid flour lumps forming I usually mix 1 tbsp of flour with a bit of water to form a paste. Then add the flour paste to the curry and mix well. For best results add the flour paste before the curry is heated up to much. Then stir continually until the sauce thickens and the flour is ‘cooked out’.

Freezing guidance: Once cooked fully cool and then transfer to sealable containers (within 1 hour) and freeze for up to 3 months. When reheating, first defrost thoroughly then slowly bring to a gentle simmer in a pan (try not to rapidly boil) and heat until piping hot throughout. This recipe can also be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days after cooking.

Is this recipe spicy?: Thai red curry can be quite spicy depending on the type and amount of chillies used in making the paste. Also adding extra chilli to the curry itself will increase the heat. For a milder version use less chillies or replace some of the chillies with red bell pepper. For an even spicier version consider dried red chillies or add a hot sauce such as Tabasco.

 

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