A Bit About Thai Curry

A Thai Curry is basically a saucy dish flavored with curry powder (a combination of a bunch of spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric, ginger, dry mustard, fenugreek and black pepper) or curry paste (made with ingredients such as green, yellow, or red chilies, galangal, and lime).

It originally was a meat or vegetable dish cooked with spiced gravy and served with rice, but due to trade and such, it spread and now has different versions, since countries adopted them and made it their own. Like for example, Japanese curries are often mild and sweet, made up of meat, vegetables and sauce, and served with rice. Thai curries made use of the country’s regional ingredients like chilies and coconut milk, and they are more soup-like. Jamaican curries use goat, allspice and pimento. Then there’s the Indian curries, water or broth based, thickened with yogurt or sour cream. They use a blend of toasted spices ground into a powder, called masalas. Indian curries are considered a British fusion.

This time’s featured recipe is the Pineapple Coconut Thai Curry.

The Recipe

What you need:

• 453g (1lb) meat of your choice, sliced into thin strips (shrimp can also be used, leave them whole, wash and peel)
• 1 small onion (preferably yellow onion), diced
• 1 tbsp. (15mL) fresh ginger, chopped or grated
• 2 bell peppers, any color, cut into strips
• 1 head of broccoli, cut the florets into smaller ones
• Approx. a handful of snow peas
• 3 tbsp. (45mL) Thai red curry paste
• 2 cans (403mL x2) full fat coconut milk
• 1.5 cups (354mL) chicken broth
• 2 cups pineapple chunks, with juice drained
• 1.5 tbsp. (22mL) coconut or olive oil

Optional:

• 6 mushrooms, cut into eights
• 2 carrots, sliced into medallions
• 1 tomato, cut into wedges
• ½ of a cucumber, cut into medallions

The Procedure:

1. Dice the onion and peel and mince garlic cloves. Set aside
2. Peel and chop ginger. Set aside
3. Wash and chop vegetables (for the snow peas, remove the fibrous string inside). Set aside
4. Slice the meat (for shrimp, peal, de-vein, and wash them). Set aside
5. Measure out/prepare all other ingredients, open cans and such
6. Heat up your skillet for approx. 2 mins Make sure it doesn’t get too hot that it starts smoking
7. When it’s hot, put 1 tbsp. of oil in the middle of the pan and let it warm up
8. Toss in sliced up meat and sauté them until browned and just cooked through (approx. 10-15 mins for beef, pork and chicken, 5 mins for shrimp). Set it aside on a clean bowl.
9. Keep the pan hot, then add a half tbsp. of oil and let it heat up.
10. Add Thai curry paste to the pan (carefully, so the oil won’t splash and burn you). Mix for approx. 30 secs.
11. Toss onions, garlic and ginger in the pan. Let them cook for approx. 3-5 mins until onions are translucent and coated in curry paste.
12.  Add all chopped vegetables and pineapple and cook until soft (approx. 5-7 mins).
13. Add the meat then stir it around.
14. Add chicken broth and coconut milk to the pan, stir and bring to a simmering boil (approx. 5-7 mins).
15. When done, take it off from heat and serve over rice or just by itself in a bowl (rice would be nice though).
16. Bon appétit!

Do you want to make a healthy and delicious meal for your love one’s? Check this out for more healthy recipes. Here!