Weeknight Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken

• servings: 4
• active time: 30 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1¼ lbs chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces and salted on a plate

1 large yellow onion, finely diced

2-3 cups spinach

One 13.5 oz can full-fat coconut milk

1½ cups shredded carrots

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced (or sub ginger garlic paste)

3 tbsp high-heat neutral oil (avocado, canola, etc)

2 tbsp lime juice (to taste)

1-4 tbsp brown sugar (to taste)

2-4 tbsp Thai yellow curry paste (Mekhala is the brand recommended by the original recipe author, but use whatever you want. Modify the amount based on the brand to-taste)

3 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp ground coriander seeds

½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper

¼ cup fresh cilantro / basil, lightly chopped (optional for garnish)

Directions

Heat a bit of neutral oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot enough, add the salted chicken pieces and sear until it’s well browned. Once the chicken is nicely seared on all sides, or when you’re worried about the fond burning, remove the chicken and add in the diced onion. Use the moisture from the onion to scrape up the fond, adding a bit of water or oil as needed to get everything.

Cook the onions until they are translucent and starting to brown. Add the curry paste, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and coriander. Stir and saute until aromatic, about 1 minute. This will bloom the spices in oil and deepen their flavor.

Add the coconut milk and shredded carrots, and stir to combine, being sure to scrape up any fond from the pan. Add back in the chicken along with any resting juices, and bring the mixture up to a boil over medium heat. Allow it to gently boil for 5 minutes, or until the volume has reduced and it’s starting to thicken.

Add the spinach and stir until it has just wilted.

Taste the curry and add the lime juice (brightens the flavors), brown sugar (balances heat), and cilantro / basil to-taste. Also add black pepper and salt as needed (though the curry paste will usually have a lot of salt).

Serve the curry hot with rice or another starch of choice, and enjoy!

Notes

Thailand has a huge variety of incredibly flavorful and delicious curries. In the West, we understand these as three categories: red, green, and yellow. This is a recipe for the latter, which features a curry paste that’s usually made with lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, and coriander (among other things). The curry sauce is super creamy and aromatic, and is usually quite mild compared to others. It’s also pretty healthy, which is another plus. This is a great Thai dish to cook at home and start to experience homemade Thai cuisine. This version uses chicken and is oriented towards being a weeknight meal, using store-bought curry paste. I’d serve this with rice or another starch of your choice.