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You are here: Home / All Recipes / Thai Chicken Curry

Thai Chicken Curry

You need shallots, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, cilantro, garlic and lime zest in addition to chilies and turmeric to make authentic Thai chicken curry. This is how we did it at a cooking class in Chiang Mai.

Thai chicken curry in black bowl set over a pink plate

Kaffir lime was used in the Chiang Mai cooking school. We have a kaffir lime tree in our garden so we have a steady supple of kaffir limes. If unavailable, use regular limes.

If the rest of herbs and spices are unavailable, I really suggest that you just get ready-to-use good quality Thai curry paste. You will get better flavors rather than cook the dish with incomplete ingredients.

Thai Chicken Curry

Recipe by Connie Veneracion
Coconut milk is naturally sweet. While seasoning Thai chicken curry with fish sauce balances that sweetness, squeezing lime juice over the chicken really makes the flavors of the dish pop.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 50 mins
Total Time 1 hr
Course Main Course
Cuisine Thai
Servings 4 people
Thai chicken curry garnished with cilantro leaves and lime slices
Print Recipe

Ingredients
  

Curry paste

  • 2 stalks lemongrass white portion only, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 shallots peeled and quartered
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 one-inch knob ginger thinly sliced
  • 1 one-inch knob galangal thinly sliced
  • 1 one-inch knob turmeric thinly sliced
  • 4 stalks cilantro (reserved the top leaves for garnish)
  • zest of one kaffir lime
  • 2 bird's eye chilies stems discarded

To complete the dish

  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1 cup coconut cream
  • 1 kilogram chicken leg quarters each cut through the joint into three portions
  • 1 teaspoon palm sugar
  • fish sauce
  • 1 small stick cinnamon
  • 1 ½ cups chicken broth
  • 1 ½ cups coconut milk

To garnish

  • lime slices
  • cilantro leaves

Instructions
 

  • Using a mortar and pestle (or a mini food processor), grind all the ingredients for the curry paste.
    You need shallots, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, cilantro, garlic and lime zest in addition to chilies and turmeric to make authentic Thai chicken curry.
  • Heat the cooking oil in a thick-bottomed pan.
  • Add the curry paste and saute (medium heat, of course), stirring often, until the solids start to separate from the oil.
    Cooking Thai chicken curry in coconut milk
  • Pour in the coconut cream and heat until bubbly.
  • Dump the chicken into the pan and stir to coat each piece with the curry sauce.
  • Stir in the palm sugar, a tablespoon of fish sauce and the cinnamon stick.
  • Mix the coconut milk with the chicken broth and pour into the pan.
    Adding chicken broth to That chicken curry
  • When the sauce boils, set the heat to low, cover the pan and cook the chicken in the sauce for 30 to 40 minutes with occasional stirring, depending on how large the chicken pieces are.
  • Twice or thrice during cooking, taste the sauce and add more fish sauce, as needed.
  • Serve your Thai chicken curry topped with cilantro leaves with lime slices or wedges on the side.
Keyword Chicken, coconut milk, Curry
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Published: April 15, 2021 • Last modified: February 28, 2022 ♥ All Recipes, Curry, Main Courses, Poultry, Southeast Asian Food, Thai
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