Thai Coconut Curry

Thai curry is my favorite ‘last minute dinner’. I like to always have a few cans of coconut milk & jars of thai curry paste in my pantry for nights when I don’t know what to cook and I’m feeling extra lazy. The great part about a curry is you can sort of throw in whatever you’d like (the world is your oyster! ) It’s perfect for a “fridge clean out” extravaganza. I don’t know that my recipe is the most authentic thing in the world, but it’s how I’ve come to enjoy it and it’s very simple. Read on for the recipe

Base Ingredients:

• 1 jar of thai curry paste (red or green) (I use ‘Thai Kitchen” brand)
• 2 cans of culinary coconut milk (I’ve used light and full fat, doesn’t make a big difference)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp crushed thai chili (or red pepper flakes, or omit!)

Additions:

• 2 chicken breasts (thinly sliced)
• 1 green or red pepper
• 1 Zucchini (I like to slice in a half moon shape)
• Broccolini (1 bunch, chopped)
• 1 shallot (finely sliced)

Garnish/Toppings

• Handful of chopped cilantro
• handful of crushed peanuts
• thinly sliced red onion or shallots
• handful of thai basil (or regular basil)
• extra chili flakes
• extra squeeze of lime juice

Directions:

In a medium-large sized pot, heat up coconut oil on medium-high heat. Next, add curry paste, you can add most the jar, or the whole jar. I typically just end up adding the whole jar (it ends up being about 3-4 tbsp). The curry paste will sputter a bit and make some noise, don’t be alarmed- this is what you want! The curry paste needs to be fried up a bit to let out the flavors and aromas. After about 5 minutes, add in the coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring the curry paste & coconut milk mixture to a light boil. At this point- if you’re only using vegetables, add them in and cook for about 10 minutes on a simmer until everything seems cooked and softened. After the 10 minutes is up, add fish sauce, lime juice, and crushed pepper. If vegan, you can omit the fish sauce, I’m sure it’ll still be delicious!

If you’re adding chicken and vegetables, add the chicken first and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, add in all your vegetables, fish sauce, lime juice and crushed pepper flakes (pro tip: whenever I get takeout from my local Thai place, I ask for extra chili flakes on the side and they give me a big container, I end up using it when I cook my own for months!) Let the vegetables cook and soften for about 10 minutes. Serve over rice, cauliflower rice, rice noodles, or kelp noodles and top with chopped cilantro, basil, crushed peanuts, and sliced red onion or shallot. Enjoy!