Thai Red Curry Paste-And More!
Thai Red Curry Paste is fragrant and sumptuous, and depending on your heat loving level, you can make it as hot and spicy as you like. Make it your own!
This paste makes a healthy, hearty curry sure to boost your mood and awaken your senses. This curry sauce, once
made, will keep in your fridge for a couple days. It is awesome for Curry Chicken, and I’ve included a couple of other yummy recipes to keep your curry groove alive!
The paste ingredients are simply blended together and then you can make the curry chicken in a skillet or wok, or as a casserole in your oven. Easy weeknight meal makings, when you get home from a difficult day at work! You can also prep the whole thing ahead and just pop it in the oven to warm when you get home!
I love the idea of meal preparation for the week on Sunday, so this is one of those things you can have made ahead for a quick weeknight meal. I will be including a lot of ideas for weekday meal prep as I find more recipes to show you.
Used in this recipe, are your basic exotic spices, cumin, coriander, fish sauce, shrimp paste, chilies, garlic and galangal. Hopefully, you already have these on hand from making my Thai Green Curry Paste, so this goes together in no time.
You only need to coarsely chop the veges’s in this recipe because they will all be blended together anyway. Chopping helps to ensure a smooth paste. I highly recommend using a NutriBullet if you have one. If not, think of investing in this awesome kitchen tool. I use mine every day, see my NutriBullet Review. It is so handy to have! I love this gadget!
Thai Red Curry Paste
Makes about 1/2-3/4 cup.
2 shallots, or 1/2 cup purple onion chopped
1 1/2 inch piece of galangal, chopped or ginger
1/4 cup coriander roots
3 cloves garlic, chopped
zest of one lime
1 Tbsp ketchup, or tomato paste and 1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp chili powder, (ancho chili powder is awesome)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp shrimp paste
1-2 fresh red chilies, (ripe Serrano, or 1/2 -3/4 tsp cayenne pepper or crushed red chile)
coconut milk
Place all sauce ingredients in a blender or NutriBullet with about 1/4 cup of coconut milk. Process until smooth. Add more coconut milk as needed to get a smooth, thick mixture.
To make Red Curry Chicken:
Heat oven to 350.
4-6 chicken pieces, skin removed, I like thighs, they stay juicier. You can use boneless thighs, and it will cook faster.
1/3-1/2 cup Red Curry Paste, depending on how much chicken you have
2-3 kaffir lime leaves, or zest of one lime
1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 red, orange or yellow bell pepper, chopped into bite size pieces
2-3 tomatoes, cut in wedges
lime wedges, thin sliced chili pepper, fresh basil, (Thai basil is best if you can find it), cilantro, mint for garnish
Note: You can add any veges’s you like, and have on hand. 1 cup chopped eggplant, broccoli, green beans, zucchini, cauliflower are all good! Keep the tomato though, this is red curry sauce after all!
Authentically, the chicken is just added to the sauce and cooked in a wok on the stove, but if you do the basic prep ahead, or when you want to eat it, you can make it into a casserole. Most recipes just add the raw chicken to the hot sauce, but I like to brown my chicken, I think it gives more flavor! Make it your own!
Heat a skillet with 2 tbsp cooking oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken on both sides, remove from pan. Place in a casserole dish with a cover. Add curry paste to skillet. Cook and stir to heat through and toast the spices and bring out the oils. Add enough coconut milk to sauce so you have enough to cover the chicken, about 1 cup. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Immerse the kaffir lime leaves and cinnamon stick down in the sauce. Make sure the sauce is covering all parts of the chicken.
Cover and bake 45 minutes.
Remove from oven, give it a stir and add the veges’s. Make sure they are submerged in the sauce. Place back in oven and bake another 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked and tender.
Do a taste test to see if your dish is balanced. You are looking for a balance of salty, sweet, sour, and spicy. Adjust your seasonings to your liking. If you need more salt, add more fish sauce, too sour, add a little brown sugar, too spicy, add more coconut milk, not spicy enough, add cayenne or crushed chili pepper. Better yet, add some fresh, hot pepper thinly sliced as along with your other garnishes.
Ladle into serving bowl, add garnishes. Serve with jasmine rice or Thai sticky rice and extra lime wedges. Depending on how spicy you make your curry, some may like to top it off with a little coconut milk to tame the heat. You can pass the Sriracha too!
I hope you love this!
Save some of your paste and mix it into your next Macaroni and Cheese sauce recipe to give that old standby an exotic flair!
I hope you like this easy way to bring exotic flavors to the table. As always, if you don’t have an ingredient, try something similar, use your nose to tell you what might be good! Don’t be afraid, it’ll come out awesome! Make it your way!
Let me know if you come up with a new way to enjoy this yummy curry paste. I’m always looking for new ideas!
Thanks! Jeanette