Panang Curry

Make rich, creamy, and spicy Thai Panang curry at home in just 20 minutes. It’s much more flavorful than the take-out and can be made vegan too.

Want to try more Thai Curries, then give these ones also a try for your delicious weekend meal – Thai Green Curry, Thai Pumpkin Curry, Thai Basil Chicken, and Thai Red Curry.

Jump to:

• About This Recipe
• Ingredients
• How to make Panang Curry?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• How to make Homemade Penang Curry Paste?
• Variations
• Storage Suggestions
• Serving Suggestions
• You might also like
• Recipe Card
•  

About This Recipe

Panang curry (pronounced as Pa-Naing) is an Asian style curry that is spicy, creamy, and rich and has a distinct flavor of kaffir lime, coconut milk, and red chilies.

It is also called phanaeng, phanang, panaeng or panang, in Thailand or as penang, or Pulau Pinang in Malaysia. This curry is named after the city island called ‘Penang’ of Malaysia. Compared to Thai red curry, this curry is sweeter, creamy, and luscious.

Panang curry recipe takes only 20 minutes to come together, it is much better than your favorite take out and is highly customizable.

Make a vegan version of this Thai curry by using lots of veggies and tofu, vegan Panang curry paste, and skipping the meat and fish sauce, or make it with the meat of your choice like chicken, pork, beef, seafood, shrimp, or fish.

This curry is mildly spicy. It is less spicy as compared to Thai red and green curry and is mildly sweet due to the use of palm sugar.

This Panang Chicken Curry is,

• Delicious
• Keto, Gluten-Free, Paleo, Dairy Free
• Full of Flavour
• Easy & Quick
• Loaded with veggies
• Perfect for lazy meals

Ingredients

Chicken – Opt for boneless chicken thighs and cut it into bite sized pieces. You can also use boneless chicken breast.

Vegetables – This curry is loaded with vegetables along with chicken. I have added red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and broccoli, but you can go ahead in add more veggies such as mushrooms, eggplant, baby corn, snap peas, bamboo shoots, beans, carrots, etc.

Panang Curry Paste – To make this curry, you will need Panang curry paste. It is readily available in the market these days but you can also make it at home from scratch as well. Scroll down to get the recipe.

Check out the international section of the grocery store. If you have an Asian store nearby, this paste will be readily available there. Otherwise, you can also order it online like here on Amazon.

My fav brand of Panang curry paste is Real Thai and Mae Ploy. If you are looking for a vegan paste, then look out for Maesri or A taste of Thai brand.

Coconut Milk – Coconut milk adds a distinct flavor and also minimizes the spice level of the curry making it nice and mild. It also makes this curry rich and creamy, makes it taste delicious when served with rice. Some people even add cashew paste to make the curry richer.

Fish Sauce – This sauce adds an earthy savory flavor to the curry which adds to its taste. Skip adding it for a vegetarian or vegan version.

Palm Sugar – Palm sugar adds in a little sweetness to the curry, which makes it even more delicious. It dissolves in the curry well, without being sticky. If you cannot find palm sugar, you can also use brown sugar instead.

Red Chillies – For that much-needed spiciness, add in fresh Thai bird’s eye red chilies. It is great if you can find Thai red chilies, if not you can use normal red chilies too.

You can increase or decrease the amount of chillies as per your taste and preference.

Thai Basil and Kaffir Lime – These two ingredients give this curry a very authentic taste and you can source these from your local Asian market.

You can also order the ingredients online as well as they are readily available in a number of Asian stores. You can freeze the leftover Kaffir lime for future. It will turn black but will still retain it’s strong aroma.

If Thai basil is not available, you can use the regular basil too.

Oil – You can use any vegetable oil to make this curry.

Others – Some people use cornstarch to make the curry slightly thicker. I never use it but if you like a thicker curry, dissolve 1 tablespoon cornstarch in 3 tablespoon water, make a slurry and add it to the curry.

How to make Panang Curry?

Start by preparing the chicken and vegetables. Wash 14 oz boneless chicken breast and cut it into 1 inch cubes using a sharp knife. Slice ½ red bell peppers, ½ yellow bell pepper and cut a small broccoli head into small bite size florets.

Heat 2 tablespoon vegetable oil to a medium size pan.

Add the chicken pieces to the pan and fry on high heat until they turn slightly browned about 3-4 minutes.

Note – If making vegan, skip this process. You can use other meat of choice instead of chicken.

Add ½ cup sliced red bell peppers, ½ cup sliced yellow bell peppers and 1 cup small broccoli florets to the pan and fry for 2 minutes.

Note – You can use any vegetables of your choice.

Move the chicken and vegetables on the side of the pan.

Add 4 tablespoon Panang curry paste to the pan.

Note – Use vegan Panang curry paste for vegan version as the regular one have shrimp paste in it. You can reduce the amount of paste if like the curry milder.

Fry for 2 minutes and then mix everything up.

Add 1 tablespoon palm sugar and cook for another minute. 

Add 5-6 sliced Kaffir lime leaves, 2 chopped bird’s eye red chilies, and 2 cups of coconut milk and let the curry simmer for 10-12 minutes. Now add 1 cup of water and mix well.

Now add 2 tablespoon fish sauce and a handful of torn Thai basil and mix well. Serve it hot.

Note – To make it vegan, skip the fish sauce and use soy sauce or tamari instead. If Thai basil is not available, use regular basil.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to make Homemade Penang Curry Paste?

Panang curry paste is available in the market these days but you can definitely make it at home for more traditional flavors. For a vegan or vegetarian version, skip adding shrimp paste to it and add 1 tablespoon soy sauce instead.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon Chopped Garlic
• ¼ cup Chopped Shallots
• 1 tablespoon Chopped Galangal
• 2 teaspoon Cilantro Root
• 1 teaspoon Kaffir Lime Zest
• 3 tablespoon Chopped Lemon Grass
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 10-15 Dry Red chilies
• 1 teaspoon Shrimp Paste
• ¼ teaspoon white peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon Roasted Cumin Seeds
• 1 tablespoon Roasted Coriander Seeds
• 2 tablespoon Roasted peanuts

Method

• Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
• If you have a peanut allergy, you can skip using them.

Variations

Instead of chicken, you can also use beef, shrimp (prawns), pork, and fish like salmon or any white fish in this curry.

You can make a vegan version by adding tofu or vegetables to the curry and skipping the fish sauce. If using tofu, cook the tofu in an oven or in a pan until crisp. Then add it to the curry.

If palm sugar is not available, use brown sugar in its place.

You can also add pieces of pineapple to this curry to give it a sweet and tart taste. Green mangoes also goes very well.

Storage Suggestions

This Penang curry will last in the fridge for 3-4 days when stored in an airtight container. Reheat it in a pan or in the microwave before serving.

I don’t recommend freezing this curry as it has coconut milk in it. The texture of the curry might change once we thaw it.

Serving Suggestions

This curry goes best with Jasmine rice. You can also serve it with steamed white rice, sticky rice, brown rice, quinoa, or couscous.

You can also serve it with zoodles, noodles or spaghetti.

It also tastes great with Asian cauliflower rice and is perfect for low carb or KETO diet.

Try it with garlic noodles for a filling meal.

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