Thai Chicken Curry (Yellow, Red and Green)

Description

* **Serves**: 4
* **Difficulty**: easy
* **Preparation time**: 25 minutes

## Ingredients

* 400-ml/14-fl oz can of coconut milk, left undisturbed for 3 hours or more
* 3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil
* 5 tablespoons Thai Curry Paste
* 450g boned and skinned chicked breasts, cut crossways into 3mm thick slices
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce (nam pla), or to taste
* 1 teaspoon thick tamarind paste or lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar

## Instructions

1. Carefully open the can of coconut milk and remove 4 tablespoons of the thick cream at the top. Stir the remaining contents of the can well and set aside.
2. Pour the oil into a large non-stick, lidded pan and set over a medium heat.
3. When the oil is hot, add the coconut cream and the curry paste. Stir and fry for 3-4 minutes or until the oil separates and the paste is lightly browned.
4. Reduce the heat to low and add the chicken, fish sauce, tamarind (or lemon juice), sugar and the reserved coconut milk.
5. Stir and bring to a simmer.
6. The chicken should turn white and cook through by the time the first bubbles start to appear. Simmer on a low heat for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked.

## Variances- Same as before - plus

### Red curry

* 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves or a teaspoon of julienned lemon rind
* 15-20 fresh sweet basil (bai horappa) leaves or ordinary basil

1. Either tear up the lime leaves or else remove the central vein and cut them into fine strips. These and the basil leaves should be scattered over the top when serving.
2. If dried leaves are being used, add to the curry whilst it is cooking.

### Yellow curry

* 85g shallots, peeled and very thinly sliced into slivers
* 1 teaspoon hot curry powder

1. At the beginning, when the oil is hot, put in the shallots and stir them about. When they start to turn brown at the edges, reduce the heat to medium-low.
2. Continue to stir and fry, turning the heat down as needed, until the shallots are golden brown and crisp.
3. Remove them with a slotted spoon and spread out on a double layer of kitchen paper to crisp up further.
4. Add the coconut cream and curry paste as described in the standard recipe.
5. Add the curry powder and stir a few times. Add the chicken and stir for a minute.
6. Reduce the heat to low and add the fish sauce, tamarind, palm sugar and 175ml of water. Stir and bring to a simmer.
7. Cover, reduce the heat as low as possible and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
8. Stir in the reserved coconut milk. Taste for a balance of flavours, adding more fish sauce, sugar or tamarind if needed.
9. Bring to a simmer. COver and simmer very gently for 2-3 minutes.
10. Sprinkle the fried shallots over the top before serving.

### Green curry

* 4 fresh kaffir lime leaves or a teaspoon of julienned lemon rind
* 15-20 fresh sweet basil (bai horappa) leaves or ordinary basil
* 2-3 fresh hot red and green bird’s eye chillies cut into fine rounds (optional)

1. Proceed as for standard recipe.
2. Either tear up the lime leaves or else remove the central vein and cut them into fine strips. These and the basil leaves should be scattered over the top when serving. Garnish with the chillies, if desired.
3. If dried leaves are being used, add to the curry whilst it is cooking