Red Thai Curry
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time 20 minutes (4-5 hours if using slow cooker)
Serves 4
Ingredients
Chicken (or beef, pork, fish, peeled prawns) and vegetables about 500g in total; cut the meat and fish into bite-sized pieces and vegetables into smaller pieces or slices so it all cooks through quickly.
1 x 400g tin coconut milk
3 x tbsp desiccated coconut (optional)
Olive oil for frying
Garnish - Chopped coriander leaves (if suitable for the dysphagic patient)
For the red Thai curry paste
1 x medium onion or shallot, peeled and chopped
2 x cloves garlic, crushed
1 x stalk lemongrass, chopped
½ x tsp chilli powder or 1-2 red chillies, deseeded if less heat required and chopped
½ x tsp of ginger or 1" piece fresh root ginger, sliced
2 x tbsp tomato purée
1 x tsp sugar
½ x tsp ground cumin
½ x tsp ground coriander
2 x tbsp lime juice (or zest and juice of 1 lime)
2 x Kaffir lime leaves (optional)
3 x tbsp nam pla (Thai fish sauce) or soy sauce or Worcestershire Sauce
Enough (sesame) oil to keep the blades turning
Salt
Method
- To make the paste, put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz really well until you have a smooth paste.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large wok or frying pan, fry the paste for a few minutes until it becomes fragrant then add the meat and vegetables of your choice and fry for a few minutes, stirring all the time.
- Add the coconut milk (and desiccated coconut if used), bring to the boil and simmer. Chicken, beef or pork will take 8-10 minutes; prawns and fish about 4-5 minutes; vegetables such as squash or pumpkin, courgettes, peppers, baby corn, green beans, aubergine or carrots will take about 5 minutes; and spring onions, mange tout or spinach will need only a minute.
- Serve on a bed of jasmine rice, garnished with coriander leaves, if used.
Notes
- The paste will keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks and it is fine to freeze for 2 months, too. If you make a smaller quantity, it might not blend in the food processor.
- If you don’t have a can of coconut milk you can make your own by combining equal parts of unsweetened desiccated coconut and boiling water in a blender for 30 seconds. Sieve through a cheesecloth, squeezing the liquid out. It will keep for 2 days in the fridge.
- For Green Thai Curry substitute red for green chillies, omit tomato purée and add fresh coriander and kaffir lime leaves.