Interests: Cooking: Thai red chicken curry

We call this red Thai curry, but it can come out more green because of all the coriander. This recipe is what I remember from the last time I made it, which my husband said was delicious. I didn't make a note of what exactly I did, but here goes - and don't blame me if it's dreadful - or unauthentic, for that matter!

Note that quantities, where given, are only approximate, and are dependent on taste.

Ingredients

Serves 2.

  • a little cooking oil
  • 2 tsps ground coriander
  • 1 lemon grass stalk, tough outer layer(s) removed and finely chopped (keep the stalk)
  • 2 tsps cumin seeds (or ground cumin if you haven't got the seeds)
  • a couple of cloves of garlic, chopped finely
  • 1 or 2 tsps galangal (fresh or from a jar) or root ginger
  • 1 onion, chopped, with half chopped finely
  • 2 or 3 lime leaves (fresh, in a jar, whatever)
  • Thai basil (fresh, in a jar, whatever)
  • 2 red chillis, chopped finely (I used two birdseye, with seeds, last time and obtained a curry that didn't burn your mouth off when you ate it, but was nicely tingly on the tongue, but you can use more or less to vary the heat)
  • half a red pepper, diced
  • a few cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tin coconut milk
  • 1 or 2 chicken breasts, chopped, or the equivalent in chicken breast fillets, whole
  • 1/8 of a pineapple, cut into pieces
  • bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method

  1. Warm the oil in a saucepan on a low heat and add the ground coriander, garlic, lemon grass, cumin seeds, galangal and finely chopped onion. This is to warm the oils in the spices and bring out the flavour. It's important they don't burn.
  2. After a few minutes, add the rest of the onion, the lime leaves, the basil and the chilli.
  3. When the onions have softened, add the red pepper and tomatoes.
  4. When the peppers and tomatoes have cooked a little, add the coconut milk and bring to the boil.
  5. Bring the pan to a simmer, and add the chicken then the pineapple.
  6. When the chicken is almost cooked (the time will depend on the size of the chicken pieces), add the fresh coriander.
  7. When the chicken is cooked, it is ready.
  8. Thin it with a little water if you think it's too rich and creamy.

To serve

Serve with Thai sticky rice infused with lemon grass stalk.

Notes

Of course, you could use any other meat or shellfish instead of chicken.