Restaurant style Thai curry recipe?

[tzakiel]

I have had thai curries (especially red) at many restaurants and so far the recipes I have tried to re-create this at home have been absolutely terrible, and the stuff in jars at the "ethnic food" aisle is awful in my experience. I am looking for a creamy and tasty thai red curry that I can make at home and add thin sliced chicken, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, etc. Usually at the restaurants it has a spicy/sweet flavor that is delicious. If anyone knows what I mean and has found something that works, I'd love to hear.

 

[Yakuta]

I normally don't have all the authentic ingredients but I use what I can get and the version comes out quite good. You can give this recipe a shot.

- 3 Fresh red chilis (if you can get your hands on them) or use 3 dried arabol chilis (soak them in hot water and leave them overnight). They are pretty spicy.
- 1/2 stick of ginger peeled and cut into small chunks
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped into chunks
- 1 bunch of cilantro, use the stems and reserve the leaves. Wash the stems and cut them roughly
- 2 tsps of grated lime peel (I can't find kaffir lime leaves so I use this instead)
- 1/4 tsp of tamarind paste (works very well in this curry)
- 2 tsps of paprika (not authentic but works well to impart a red color)
- 1 tsp of fish sauce
- 3 tsps of whole corrainder seeds (dry roasted and ground)
- 2 tsps of whole cumin seeds (dry roasted and ground)
- 2 tsps of brown sugar

Put all these ingredients into a blender and blend until it resembles a nice thick paste

In a pan add a tiny bit of oil (1/2 tbsp), add this paste and cook it until no longer raw (about 30 minutes or so). The onion will release a lot of water. It should be a thick paste like consistency but not burnt.

In another pan, add 1/2 tbsp of oil, add meat of your choice and cook until no longer pink, throw in veggies of your choice and add the cooked curry paste followed by some coconut milk. Let it all cook for another few minutes. Taste, adjust salt, sugar. Serve with some corrainder leaves on top.

 

[radhuni]

Is this tastes hot?

 

[tzakiel]

I would imagine it depends on the number of the first ingredient - fresh red chilis - used.

Thanks for this - I will try it and report back!

 

[tzakiel]

I made this tonight! It was really yummy. You were right, it was close and quite good. My only comment would be that I added a little more sugar and salt in the end (which you mentioned anyway), and it wasn't very red in color, more brown. Also, at restaurants it's usually very very silky and smooth, like heavy cream texture. I wonder if the sauce could be made out of the paste and coconut milk, then blended again for a final step to smooth it all out?

I really appreciate your recipe and I will be making this again!

I normally don't have all the authentic ingredients but I use what I can get and the version comes out quite good. You can give this recipe a shot.

- 3 Fresh red chilis (if you can get your hands on them) or use 3 dried arabol chilis (soak them in hot water and leave them overnight). They are pretty spicy.
- 1/2 stick of ginger peeled and cut into small chunks
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped into chunks
- 1 bunch of cilantro, use the stems and reserve the leaves. Wash the stems and cut them roughly
- 2 tsps of grated lime peel (I can't find kaffir lime leaves so I use this instead)
- 1/4 tsp of tamarind paste (works very well in this curry)
- 2 tsps of paprika (not authentic but works well to impart a red color)
- 1 tsp of fish sauce
- 3 tsps of whole corrainder seeds (dry roasted and ground)
- 2 tsps of whole cumin seeds (dry roasted and ground)
- 2 tsps of brown sugar

Put all these ingredients into a blender and blend until it resembles a nice thick paste

In a pan add a tiny bit of oil (1/2 tbsp), add this paste and cook it until no longer raw (about 30 minutes or so). The onion will release a lot of water. It should be a thick paste like consistency but not burnt.

In another pan, add 1/2 tbsp of oil, add meat of your choice and cook until no longer pink, throw in veggies of your choice and add the cooked curry paste followed by some coconut milk. Let it all cook for another few minutes. Taste, adjust salt, sugar. Serve with some corrainder leaves on top.

 

[Yakuta]

Good to know. You can add the cooked curry paste and coconut milk together in a blender and reblend it until it's nice and smooth.

The color I cannot help you with because it depends on the chili's you use. If you do get fresh red chili's that are authentic to thai cuisine you will get a richer color. If you don't you have to make do with what you have with adding some paprika.

Another thing you can try is adding some red bell peppers. I have seen a variety of them that look like cubanelle peppers (thinner than the cubanelles)and are bright red in color like a red bell pepper and not spicy. I slice rings grom them and use them to garnish my tomato soup You can use a few of them in the paste for color and still use the dried chili's for the spice.

Once you have a basic recipe you can tweak it and make it your own. My recipe is just a guide and I never follow any recipe to the T (except in baking). I taste and look at the texture as I go and make adjustments.

All the best.

 

[tzakiel]

Well thanks again, it's yummy and I think if I add some red bell pepper as you suggested, and get the red chilis it will come out like heaven.

One thing, I did not use the cilantro and opted for basil and parsley instead. I'm not sure how I came up with that, but I don't like cilantro much so I just decided to use some things I do like. It seemed to work okay.

 

[tzakiel]

Just one addition - something I read about online and intend to try next time I make this.

Apparently if you simmer the coconut milk in the pan over fairly high heat, the oils will seperate out. The paste can then be added and the oil spots will pick up the true color of the hot chilies.

So to modify this, I would start the sauce by cooking the milk until seperated/reduced a little, then add the paste and perhaps a bit of water to thin it out a bit and then finish cooking the sauce. I would then add this to the cooked meat and veggies.

 

[Claire]

One of the things that is missing in many Thai recipes is fresh herbs. Because I live in a frigid winter place, I made a sort of "pesto" to freeze and it has stood me well. Now I only have to break a piece of it, toss it in some coconut milk, et voila! Thai curry. I tend towards the green rather than red. It makes a great poaching liquid for chicken (a can of coconut milk, some chicken broth, and a chunk of this paste) then served on either rice or noodles. Yummy.

 

[krishnan l]

our restaurant is a traditional thai restaurant. I am giving the recipe which is used iin our restaurant.

125 gms - dried red chilly(soaked in hot water)
30 gms - galangal(thai ginger)
30 gms - lemongrass
30 gms - kaffir lime peel
7 gms- cumin(broiled)
7 gms- coriander seeds(broiled)
15gms- dry shrimps
100gms- onion
70 gms- garlic

make a fine paste of the ingredients.

if u r taking 1 ladel of the paste, add 1ladel of nampla(thai fish sauce), 1 ladel of sugar. cook it till the raw flavour goes.

in the mean while heat the coconut milk to get the cream.take care, it should not be curled.

take the coconut cream from the top.the water remains at the bottom.

add that water(less amount) to the currry mixture.cook it some more time.then add cream to get the curry consisteny.then add brinjal, little kaffir lime leaves(broken)and a half sprig of basil.cook till the chicken tender and taste. u can find the same taste.

 

[tzakiel]

Wow thanks very much krishnan, I will try this. (edited out question about the coconut milk cream, I just didnt read carefully)

Another question though... should the meat and vegetables be pre-cooked or do they go in raw with the paste /coconut milk and cook with the curry?

our restaurant is a traditional thai restaurant. I am giving the recipe which is used iin our restaurant.

125 gms - dried red chilly(soaked in hot water)
30 gms - galangal(thai ginger)
30 gms - lemongrass
30 gms - kaffir lime peel
7 gms- cumin(broiled)
7 gms- coriander seeds(broiled)
15gms- dry shrimps
100gms- onion
70 gms- garlic

make a fine paste of the ingredients.

if u r taking 1 ladel of the paste, add 1ladel of nampla(thai fish sauce), 1 ladel of sugar. cook it till the raw flavour goes.

in the mean while heat the coconut milk to get the cream.take care, it should not be curled.

take the coconut cream from the top.the water remains at the bottom.

add that water(less amount) to the currry mixture.cook it some more time.then add cream to get the curry consisteny.then add brinjal, little kaffir lime leaves(broken)and a half sprig of basil.cook till the chicken tender and taste. u can find the same taste.

 

[krishnan l]

U can cook the meat or veg. before adding the coconut cream or u can cook it seperately.if u cook seperately u lose some nutritions. but while cooking in curry, care should be taken that curry has more chances to curdle.

 

[tzakiel]

I made krishnan l's recipe tonight. It is AMAZING. If you are looking for restaurant style thai curry, this is the one to try.

I used all the ingredients he specified except I used powders for the coriander and cumin, and I used grated lime peel rather than kaffir lime peel, but it still came out very much like a restaurant curry. I also found fresh red Thai chilies so I used those instead of dried. (i cut the quantity in half) I found fresh Thai basil so I put some leaves of that in at the end, too. It took me 3 years but I think I finally have a winner. THANKS! What's also great is now I have a bunch of paste that I can mix 1 part paste, 1 part fish sauce, 1 part sugar and mix with heated coconut milk to quickly make curry several times with the leftover paste.

I was lucky enough that a store called Lotte opened up right near my house, and they are a large store like Giant or a Whole Foods but specifically for Asian food. I picked up fresh Thai red chili peppers, Thai basil and lemongrass stalks there!

 

[krishnan l]

If u have any other questions let me know

 

[micmic]

then add brinjal

Hello,

Is brinjal the ordinary aubergine ? And how much do you use in that recipe ?

Thanks

 

[linguini]

Heres some nice curry recipes ..

Red Prawn and Mango Curry
Thai Green Monkfish Curry
Thai Squid Red Curry
Thai Vegetable Curry

 

[shalinee]

If you are not used to cooking, the easiest way is to buy the ready curry paste. Buy a good one. You may have to try a few types to find out the best one. They have all the spices and herbs included. You can get them at Oriental supermarkets. If you like a deeper red colour, one trick that I use is to add Korean chili powder. Hope this helps.

 

[tzakiel]

If you are not used to cooking, the easiest way is to buy the ready curry paste. Buy a good one. You may have to try a few types to find out the best one. They have all the spices and herbs included. You can get them at Oriental supermarkets. If you like a deeper red colour, one trick that I use is to add Korean chili powder. Hope this helps.

This. I have since started using a red curry paste I found at Lotte called "Cock Brand" red curry paste. It's much easier and frankly tastes better than my endeavors to make my own. I'll be posting my final recipe which I now use over and over to make red curry.