Features
Making the perfect Thai curry
The contrasts of Thai cuisine awaken the senses. Cooling coconut is matched with hot chilli, sugar with salty fish sauce, and zesty kaffir lime with pungent shrimp paste. Yet despite the complexity of the flavours, creating many of the dishes at home is both simple and quick.
Many different curries are enjoyed across Thailand, including the tamarind-spiked Massaman Curry, vibrant turmeric-laced Chang Mai Curry or coconut-free Jungle Curry.
Red and green curries are perhaps the most popular in the West. Discover how to make these and they'll open the door to many more dishes from this exciting cuisine.
In this feature
What you'll need
How to do it + recipes
Variations
Leftovers
An intensely-flavoured curry paste forms the basis of green and red curry. The pastes are very similar, the fundamental difference being the colour of the chillies. Key ingredients include:
Aubergines – small greeny-white aubergines which are approximately the size of golf balls and the smaller green pea aubergines are both available from oriental supermarkets. Diced purple aubergine can be used as a substitute.
Bamboo shoots – these are available ready-sliced in cans. Chopped into matchsticks, the shoots add a pleasing texture. These are not an essential ingredient.
Chillies – large quantities of both small bird’s eye and long green or red chillies are used. The former are particularly potent.
Coconut – available to buy creamed, desiccated, powdered or as milk. The coconut cream is used as part of the base in red and green curries and the milk or a fragrant stock creates the sauce. A can of coconut milk, contains both cream and watery milk, making it an easy option to use in these dishes.
Coriander – the roots are used in making curry paste but bunches that have the roots intact can be hard to find. If necessary, use 3 - 4 stalks as a substitute for each root. The leaves are added to finish dishes.
Fish sauce – this widely-available, salty seasoning is made from fermented fish or shellfish and can vary in intensity. Use sparingly.
Garlic – the cloves are smaller than their European counterparts. Either can be used.
Galangal – this rhizome is similar to ginger but its skin is less coarse and has a lighter, pinky hue. Its smell is almost medicinal. Ginger can be used as a substitute.
Holy basil – this type of basil has a sharp flavour similar to aniseed and is added at the end as a garnish. Use sweet basil or coriander as a substitute.
Kaffir lime – both the skin and leaves of this knobbly-looking lime can be used. If fresh leaves are not available, dried ones can be bought from the spice section of large supermarkets. If using dried, remove them before serving. The skin of a European lime can be substituted for that of the kaffir lime.
Lemon grass – this woody citrus-flavoured stalk can be pounded into the paste, chopped finely and added to dishes, or bruised to release the flavours and added to dishes whole (in the latter case it should be removed before serving.)
Peppercorns - strings of fresh green peppercorns are available from oriental supermarkets. These are not an essential ingredient.
Shallots – small red shallots are available from oriental supermarkets but European shallots can be used as an alternative or if necessary, a small onion.
Shrimp paste – available in jars from Chinese supermarket, this salty paste should be used sparingly. This can be omitted if necessary or replaced by 1 - 2 teaspoons fish sauce.
In Thailand, large quantities of chillies are used which gives the dishes their distinctive colours. For a curry that is still hot but more suited to the average Western palate, a smaller quantity of chillies (10 rather than 20!) can be used. In the case of a green curry, a handful of coriander can also be added to the paste blend or for a red curry, red onion or red shallots, to help to colour the dish.
2. To make the curry, heat a little oil in a large frying pan, add the curry paste and cook for 30 seconds to allow the aromas and flavours to release. Be careful not to burn the ingredients.
3. Skim the coconut cream from the top of the can of milk and add it to the pan. Fry it over a high heat until it splits. Add the meat of your choice – this could be thin strips of beef fillet, chicken or pork. (If you’d like to add Tiger prawns, do so 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.) Add quartered small aubergines or pea aubergines and stir until the meat is opaque.
4. Stir in coconut milk, stock, green peppercorns, fish sauce, sugar and bamboo shoots. Bring the sauce to the boil, turn down to a simmer and continue to cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the meat or prawns are cooked through. Garnish the dish with holy basil or coriander leaves and serve it with steamed rice or rice noodles.
Green Chicken Curry recipe
Red Prawn Curry recipe
To make the curry, follow the recipe for Green Chicken Curry or Red Prawn Curry but amend it in the following way:
1/ Heat a little oil in a large frying pan, add 3 chopped shallots, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 5cm chopped ginger, 1 deseeded medium red or green chilli and 4 chopped coriander stalks. Cook for 1 -2 minutes. Stir in the shop-bought curry paste at this point and cook for 30 seconds.
2/ Cook according to the recipe, adding 6 dried lime leaves and a bruised lemon grass stalk at the same time as the coconut milk and stock. Continue according to recipe, removing the lemon grass and lime leaves before serving.
Red and green curries are perhaps the most popular in the West. Discover how to make these and they'll open the door to many more dishes from this exciting cuisine.
In this feature
What you'll need
How to do it + recipes
Variations
Leftovers
What you’ll need
The secret of Thai cookery lies in the ingredients but if you don’t have a good oriental supermarket near you, you may find many of them hard to source. This doesn't mean you can't make a great-tasting curry - armed with the knowledge below, you'll be able to rustle up a red or green curry with what's available from your local shops.An intensely-flavoured curry paste forms the basis of green and red curry. The pastes are very similar, the fundamental difference being the colour of the chillies. Key ingredients include:
Aubergines – small greeny-white aubergines which are approximately the size of golf balls and the smaller green pea aubergines are both available from oriental supermarkets. Diced purple aubergine can be used as a substitute.
Bamboo shoots – these are available ready-sliced in cans. Chopped into matchsticks, the shoots add a pleasing texture. These are not an essential ingredient.
Chillies – large quantities of both small bird’s eye and long green or red chillies are used. The former are particularly potent.
Coconut – available to buy creamed, desiccated, powdered or as milk. The coconut cream is used as part of the base in red and green curries and the milk or a fragrant stock creates the sauce. A can of coconut milk, contains both cream and watery milk, making it an easy option to use in these dishes.
Coriander – the roots are used in making curry paste but bunches that have the roots intact can be hard to find. If necessary, use 3 - 4 stalks as a substitute for each root. The leaves are added to finish dishes.
Fish sauce – this widely-available, salty seasoning is made from fermented fish or shellfish and can vary in intensity. Use sparingly.
Garlic – the cloves are smaller than their European counterparts. Either can be used.
Galangal – this rhizome is similar to ginger but its skin is less coarse and has a lighter, pinky hue. Its smell is almost medicinal. Ginger can be used as a substitute.
Holy basil – this type of basil has a sharp flavour similar to aniseed and is added at the end as a garnish. Use sweet basil or coriander as a substitute.
Kaffir lime – both the skin and leaves of this knobbly-looking lime can be used. If fresh leaves are not available, dried ones can be bought from the spice section of large supermarkets. If using dried, remove them before serving. The skin of a European lime can be substituted for that of the kaffir lime.
Lemon grass – this woody citrus-flavoured stalk can be pounded into the paste, chopped finely and added to dishes, or bruised to release the flavours and added to dishes whole (in the latter case it should be removed before serving.)
Peppercorns - strings of fresh green peppercorns are available from oriental supermarkets. These are not an essential ingredient.
Shallots – small red shallots are available from oriental supermarkets but European shallots can be used as an alternative or if necessary, a small onion.
Shrimp paste – available in jars from Chinese supermarket, this salty paste should be used sparingly. This can be omitted if necessary or replaced by 1 - 2 teaspoons fish sauce.
How to do it
1. Start by making your curry paste which will form the base of your sauce. The idea is to create the smoothest consistency possible. Some of the ingredients like lemon grass and galangal can be quite tough so using a blender to break them down can save on work. Combine all the ingredients - chillies, lemon grass, red shallots, garlic, galangal, coriander roots, lime leaves, ground cumin and shrimp paste - in a blender and pulse to form a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture to a pestle and mortar and pound it until a fine consistency is achieved. The curry paste can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week.In Thailand, large quantities of chillies are used which gives the dishes their distinctive colours. For a curry that is still hot but more suited to the average Western palate, a smaller quantity of chillies (10 rather than 20!) can be used. In the case of a green curry, a handful of coriander can also be added to the paste blend or for a red curry, red onion or red shallots, to help to colour the dish.
2. To make the curry, heat a little oil in a large frying pan, add the curry paste and cook for 30 seconds to allow the aromas and flavours to release. Be careful not to burn the ingredients.
3. Skim the coconut cream from the top of the can of milk and add it to the pan. Fry it over a high heat until it splits. Add the meat of your choice – this could be thin strips of beef fillet, chicken or pork. (If you’d like to add Tiger prawns, do so 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.) Add quartered small aubergines or pea aubergines and stir until the meat is opaque.
4. Stir in coconut milk, stock, green peppercorns, fish sauce, sugar and bamboo shoots. Bring the sauce to the boil, turn down to a simmer and continue to cook for approximately 10 minutes or until the meat or prawns are cooked through. Garnish the dish with holy basil or coriander leaves and serve it with steamed rice or rice noodles.
Green Chicken Curry recipe
Red Prawn Curry recipe
Variations - supermarket
Although the process of making Thai curry paste is neither lengthy nor complicated not everyone has access to an oriental supermarket. You can used the suggested alternatives above to make your paste. Alternatively, although using a shop-bought paste is not ideal, it’s possible to make a flavoursome curry by supplementing the curry with fresh ingredients that are readily available.To make the curry, follow the recipe for Green Chicken Curry or Red Prawn Curry but amend it in the following way:
1/ Heat a little oil in a large frying pan, add 3 chopped shallots, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 5cm chopped ginger, 1 deseeded medium red or green chilli and 4 chopped coriander stalks. Cook for 1 -2 minutes. Stir in the shop-bought curry paste at this point and cook for 30 seconds.
2/ Cook according to the recipe, adding 6 dried lime leaves and a bruised lemon grass stalk at the same time as the coconut milk and stock. Continue according to recipe, removing the lemon grass and lime leaves before serving.
