Healthy and authentic Thai red curry chicken thats so easy to make if you just know one little trick. This version also has a ton of veggies.
I love love Thai food! Especially the Curry. And the Pad Thai. And the Spring Rolls. You get the picture…
I went to Thailand in 2010 for a few weeks and I was in food heaven! Even the non-Thai food was amazing. Fresh pasta and wood fire pizza ovens at the Italian restaurants and the Indian was so good too. But the Thai was by far my favorite!
Especially this one place just off the beach on Ko Samui, behind my hotel. I cant remember the name of the place, but they have a Yellow Curry dish that I still food fantasize about often. I would go back just to eat that every day!
While I was there, I took a cooking class in Bangkok and one of the dishes we made was Red Curry with Shrimp and Pineapple. We made our own Red Curry paste too. I pounded the shit out of that paste!
It took forever before the little Thai lady told me that it was good enough to start cooking with. My arms were sore! Then she taught me how to properly cook a Red Curry and now Im passing on the knowledge to you 🙂
The secret is… DONT shake the Coconut Milk can. Just open it and scoop out the cream that’s at the top into the wok. Cook it until the fat starts to separate.
Then add the red curry paste to the coconut cream and cook until the fat separates again. Then you can add the rest of the ingredients (I’ll list them all below).
When you get red curry in a restaurant, it doesn’t usually come with that many veggies, but because I love them and they taste delicious with the curry sauce on them, I add lots to my red curry dish. It also makes the dish super colorful. I love that.
Every once in a while I like to take a week and eat super clean and healthy. I love eating this way because it makes me feel amazing after a few days. Much lighter, a little less heavy with lots of energy. However, plain protein and vegetables gets a little dry.
I like to make a batch of this sauce and then pour a couple tablespoons over top when I eat it. Its still very clean and actually gives me the healthy fat that my body needs every day. The sauce is very easy to make and it keeps well in the fridge for over a week.
One Night in Bangkok Thai Red Curry with Chicken and Veggies
Ingredients
- For the Curry:
- 1 can coconut milk
- 2 tbsp red curry paste (you can add more or less depending on how spicy you like your curry and how spicy your paste is)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp fresh ginger finely chopped
- 3 or 4 kaffir lime leaves (these are usually with the fresh herbs in the grocery store)
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp coconut palm sugar
- 2 chicken breasts cooked and chopped
- 1/2 head broccoli or 2 cups green beans cut into
- 2 carrots sliced into slanted rounds
- 2 peppers of any color
- 1 can pineapple chunks (optional)
- 2 – 3 cups of cooked Rice
- lime wedges and cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Heat your wok or pot to a med-high heat. As I mentioned above, DONT shake the coconut milk can before you open it. Once its open, scoop out the Coconut Cream that’s at the top of the can into the wok. Cook and stir until the fat starts to separate. About 5 mins, but it could take a little longer.
- Add the red curry paste. Cook and stir again till the fat separates again.
- Add the garlic and ginger at this point and stir fry for a couple mins.
- Add the rest of the coconut milk. Then add the kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce and palm sugar. Cook for a few mins.
- Taste the curry and add a little more palm sugar or fish sauce as needed.
- Add the carrots to the sauce and cook for a couple mins till they start to get a bit soft.
- Next add the broccoli or green beans, peppers, cooked chicken, and pineapple to the curry sauce and stir till they are hot. Dont over cook the veggies.
- Serve immediately with a lime wedge and some cilantro on top if desired.
Notes
One night, I wanted to impress my grandma with a dish, as she always cooks amazing meals for me. Since I am a huge red curry red curry fan, when my good friend, Julie, posted this recipe, I was very excited to experiment. You see, whenever we have a ladies night, Julie cooks us these amazing concoctions and we all appreciate her taste for delicious foods with aromatic flavours. When I cooked this red curry dish, I added a handful of green beans. (I love veggies). I also thickened the sauce slightly by adding a tablespoon of cornstarch to the coconut milk while simmering. (Before adding, make a paste by adding a little water). Julie, your receipe was superb!! My grandma loved all of the flavours;) xo
Yes, I love how this recipe has so many veggies and u can really use whatever u have on hand. I’m glad your gramma liked it. I know she’s a good cook so that’s high praise 🙂
This recipe was delicious. I love the addition of pineapples in the curry. We decided to add cashews to our dish as we thought it would compliment the pineapples. We enjoyed that modification. The recipe was delicious. I can’t wait to try the rest of your recipes Julie! I know they will all be as equally tasty!
So glad it turned out! Cashews are a great idea! I’m going to try that next time…