Chicken in Thai Red Curry

I love the fragrant Thai basil. And that's why I like to incorporate it with different dishes. I make soups and curries, with lots of basil in it. The aroma of the dish fills up the entire kitchen! And this basil freezes well too. So that's an added advantage. Can't believe there are so many potent herbs out there waiting for us to experiment with. And we Indians only use cilantro and mint!

I eat this curry a lot at the Pan Asian restaurant near my work. It's truly a wholesome dish that is so fragrant and aromatic. You can literally smell the basil and the coconut and the spices in the red curry. Red curry is also hotter than the yellow curry, milder than the green. I don't bother to make the pastes at home as it's always time consuming to make it from scratch and so many times, it's difficult to find the fresh ingredients like lime leaves and galangal in the regular grocery store.

I was making this curry for Sunday dinner and hubby came running in the kitchen. His nose is very powerful! He can smell all the different spices at the same time. He can tell which vegetable is being cooked just by the smell! I can't really differentiate between aromas. It has to be very strong for me to tell what's on the stove! So anyways, he asked me what I am making with coconut, red chili paste and basil?! Read on, as this is what I was preparing!

Thai chicken in red curry
Ingredients
1 can coconut milk(14 oz)
1/3 cup coarsely chopped Thai Basil(Vietnamese basil will do as well)
2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tbsp brown sugar
Juice of one lime
1 lb chicken breast, cubed
Carrot, broccoli florets, celery, red pepper all as needed
Salt
About 1/4 cup oil



veggies are being sauted!

 How to:

Simmer the coconut milk for about 15 minutes. Heat oil in the wok. Cook chicken until no longer pink. Take it out of the wok, keep it aside. Now add remaining oil, sauté carrot until crisp tender. Now add other veggies and cook till crisp tender. Add chicken, red curry paste, brown sugar, lime juice, salt and coconut milk. Cook on medium heat till chicken is cooked through. Adjust the seasonings and serve hot curry with scented jasmine rice.



ready in red hot sauce!