Thai Red Curry is a popular spicy curry from Thai cuisine. You can make it vegetarian, with chicken, shrimp or with fish. This recipe is very easy to make and is very close to the authentic red curry that you would get in Thailand.
Here are some more Thai Recipes, that you can enjoy for your weekend meals – Thai Green Curry, Thai Pineapple Fried Rice, Pad Thai Noodles, Thai Basil Chicken, Thai Watermelon Salad and Thai Pumpkin Noodle Soup.
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About This Recipe
Thai Red Chicken Curry is a spicy Coconut Milk Curry that can be found on the menu of every Thai Restaurant.
Full of flavor and aroma, this Red Curry is one of the most popular Coconut Milk Curries from Thai Cuisine, which is loved all over the world.
It is a one-pot deliciousness, that will surely satisfy your taste buds. Ingredients like Lemon Grass, Ginger, Garlic, Fish Sauce, etc are added in this curry which makes it so aromatic, that the smell of this dish will only make you hungry.
It is a great Gluten-Free Recipe, that can be made for your weeknight dinners or can also be made for your house parties or special occasions.
It is also a great recipe to make on the days when you want to eat something delicious and easy.
You can make it vegan by skipping fish sauce and adding veggies and tofu instead of meat.
This Thai Curry is,
- Delicious
- Quick & Easy
- Gluten-Free
- Just like the restaurant one
- A great dish for your weekday meals
Ingredients
Chicken – The protein in this dish is Chicken. Wash and clean the boneless chicken and then cut into small pieces to add in the curry.
Vegetables – Along with the chicken, we will also add some vegetables such as Bell Pepper, Broccoli, but you can go ahead and add more vegetables of your choice.
Thai Red Curry Paste – You can either make Thai Red Curry paste at home and store for everyday use. If you are short on time, you can even use the store-bought red curry paste. I like the homemade version as it is fresh and free of preservatives.
Coconut Milk – Use the thin coconut milk for this curry. Again, you can make it at home or use the store-bought one. If the store-bought one is too thick, you can add water to thin it out.
Fish Sauce – When it comes to sauce, we will use fish sauce. But if you are looking for a vegan option, you can use soy sauce instead.
Oil – You can use any vegetable oil or even olive oil to make this delicious curry.
Chicken Stock – Chicken Stock adds an extra flavor, but if you do not have it, you can even use vegetable stock or water instead.
Basil – Add in a handful of Thai Basil to add an authentic taste. If you cannot find Thai Basil, you can even use Italian Basil instead.
Other Ingredients – Apart from these ingredients, you will need ginger, garlic, onion, brown sugar, cilantro, red chili, and tamarind paste. These ingredients combined add a spicy, tangy, and sweet taste.
Step By Step Recipe
Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger, and onion and fry for a minute.
Add Thai Red Curry Paste and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Add chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil.
Now add bell pepper, broccoli and chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
Add tamarind paste and cook for another minute. Garnish with coriander and red chilli. Serve hot with steamed rice.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can add Shrimp or Fish in this Restaurant quality 20 minute Thai Curry, but if you are vegetarian, you can add Tofu along with other vegetables such as Carrot, Red, Yellow Or Green Bell Pepper, Mushrooms, etc.
Any ingredient that is made fresh and used in the recipe always enhances the taste and flavor of the dish. So here, we will tell you how to make Thai Red Curry paste at home. It is super easy to make and gets ready in no time.
Ingredients:
3 Birds Eye Chilli or Thai Red Chilli, finely chopped (can be adjusted according to the spice level)
2 Fresh Red Chillies or Dry Red Chillies
1 Tablespoon Coriander Seeds
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Teaspoon Whole Black Peppercorns
2 Fresh Lemongrass, discard the outer leaves and chop it finely
2 inch Ginger or Galangali, finely chopped
5 to 6 cloves Garlic
2 Pearl Onions, roughly chopped
5 to 6 Thai Basil/ Kaffir Lime Leaves/ Basil Leaves
½ Teaspoon Lemon Zest or Lemon Juice (optional)
Salt, as required
2 Tablespoons Coconut Milk or Water
Instructions:
To make the paste, add all the ingredients in the mixer grinder jar and grind it to make a fine paste. Once ready, take it out in a bowl and keep it aside to use in the Curry.
If you want to make Red Thai Curry in Slow Cooker, then you can add in all the ingredients at once in the cooker, mix it well and let it cook it for 2 to 3 hours on high or 5 to 6 hours on low.
The best part about slow cooking is, you can make it without using oil.
Also, if you want to thicken the curry, you can take out some curry and mix it with the cornflour.
Add this again in the curry and cook it further for 30 minutes. It is always good to use less water, only the amount which can cover up your chicken and vegetables, so that the water doesn’t come out of the cooker.
The difference between both the Thai Curries is their colour and the chillies used to make these quick and easy curries.
Thai Red Curry uses Dry and Fresh Red Chillies, whereas Thai Green Curry uses fresh Green Chillies. I have a homemade Thai Green Curry Paste recipe on the blog which you should check as well.
For a low calorie version, you can make the Red Thai Curry Paste at home and use half fat coconut milk in the curry.
Green Thai Curry is considered to be spicier as it uses green chillies, which is spicy that the red chillies used in the Red Thai Curry.
Red Thai Curry comes the seconds and the least spicy is Yellow Thai Curry.
Storage Suggestions
This Thai Curry tastes the best when served fresh. But if you have leftovers, you can store it in the fridge for about 2-3 days in an air tight container.
I will not suggest you to freeze the same, as it has coconut milk. While thawing, the coconut milk tend to split, which will alter the texture of the curry and won’t taste good.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve Red Thai Curry along with Jasmine Rice, which also adds a flavor of its own.
You can also serve it along with Sticky Rice, Steamed White Rice or Brown Rice. For a healthy alternative, you can also serve it with Quinoa and Couscous.
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Recipe Card
Thai Red Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
- 3-4 cloves Garlic (Chopped)
- 1 inch Ginger (Chopped)
- ¼ cup Onion (Thinly Sliced)
- 3 tablespoon Thai Red Curry Paste
- 2 cups Chicken Stock
- ½ cup Red Bell Pepper (Sliced)
- ½ cup Broccoli (Cut into small florets)
- 400 g Boneless Chicken (Cut into small pieces)
- 2 cups Coconut Milk
- 2 teaspoon Fish Sauce
- 2 teaspoon Brown Sugar
- 2 tablespoon Cilantro
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilli (Chopped)
- Handful Basil (Roughly Torn)
- 1 tablespoon Tamarind Paste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Once the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger and onion and fry for a minute.
- Add thai red curry paste and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Add chicken stock and bring the curry to a boil.
- Now add bell pepper, broccoli and chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add coconut milk, fish sauce and brown sugar and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add tamarind paste and cook for another minute.
- Garnish with torn basil and red chilli.
- Serve hot with steamed rice.
Sophie
Help! I think you changed this recipe. I swear it used to have basil and broccoli and I LOVED that version but never printed it! I just always came to the blog when I made it. And now it’s different! Do you still have a copy of the original?
Neha Mathur
Hi Sophie, It’s the same recipe except the broccoli. Do try it. I am sure you will like it as well. Updated the basil part.
Brienna
Do you have the original recipe before it was changed on October 9, 2019? 🙁
Neha Mathur
Sorry, unfortunately not.
Neha Mathur
It’s the same recipe Brienna except I did not add broccoli in this one. Do try this one. I am sure you will like it.
erin
the water may not be necessary. we are still cooking it as i type this, to reduce it a half hour later. 🙂 in our case the coconut milk was sufficient.
msnehamathur
Will cook it once again and update the recipe. Thnx for mentioning 🙂
Hege
Hi,
This looks delish. Planning on making it on Saturday. How many people is the recipe for? Should it be doubled when we are four people?
Thanks!
-Hege
msnehamathur
Hello Hege. This recipe serves 2-3. You can easily double to serve 4-5 people.
Tropicalchefs
thanks you for your tips… keep up the good post
msnehamathur
Thnx
Maria Malinovskaya
Amazing! Thank you for sharing
Megha Sarin
WOW! Such great pictures <3 Amazing food
I also do all my grocery shopping from FoodHall
love
Julie
Really simple to make, just make sure you prep all ingredients.
It’s wasn’t burn your mouth off hot
Will definitely make this again.
The only thing I did was to put cherry tomatoes in in the last few minutes at the same time as the tamarind paste.
Neha Mathur
Happy to hear 🙂
Rumana Ambrin
I love thai cousins .. this red curry looks very yummy..
Sonali
Hi Neha! First time here and absolutely love your space. Loved your presentation of Thai red curry. Awesome clicks. It is such a coincidence that I too posted Thai red curry chicken in my blog 🙂