Thai Chicken Red Curry

Curry Chicken with Potatoes

I just came back from Bangkok with some delicious Thai red curry paste, and I just couldn’t wait to put them to good use. A packet of curry sauce is instant gratification to me, saving time and effort to make the curry paste from scratch. To save time further, I asked the market uncle to cut the chicken for me and divide them into two bags. I freeze each bag of chicken (up to a week) and whenever I need to use (for cooking dishes like this or chicken herbal soup), I just have to thaw the chicken, wash, and it’s good for cooking.

This is an easy, cheap and satisfying dish to make. It takes about 30 minutes from preparation to end (and you can cook the rice in the meantime). The cost? Only about S$5 and the quantity is enough to feed 2-3 persons. With the rising food prices, it’s definitely much, much cheaper to eat at home, not to mention the satisfaction and joy one gets from cooking … won’t you agree? ;)

Ingredients
(Serves 2-3)

– 1/2 chicken (chopped to small pieces, or you can also use drumsticks and thigh meat)
– 1 packet (50g) Thai red curry paste (I used R.S.T brand bought in Bangkok)
– 200ml coconut milk
– 400ml water or chicken stock
– 100g long beans/french beans (ends trimmed & discarded, cut to 5cm  length)
– 2 to 3 russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
– 1 stalk of curry leaf
– 1 stalk of thai basil
– 1 tsp of chilli powder (for extra heat), to taste (optional)
– Thai fish sauce, to taste

Directions

1. In a wok or saucepan, stir fry the curry paste until fragrant.
2. Add the water (or stock) and bring to a boil. Add chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Add potatoes and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the potatoes and chicken are cooked.
4. Reduce heat and gently stir in the coconut milk, until the curry is warmed through.
5. Add long beans and cooked for another 3-5 minutes. Season the curry with fish sauce and adjust the heat of the curry with chilli powder. Serve with white rice or baguette.

Cooking Note
1. Depending on the paste you used, you can adjust the taste accordingly by adding curry leaf, thai basil, lemongrass, cut chilli, chilli powder, fish sauce etc

I’m submitting this dish to Art You Eat #5 – Autumn Edition.