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Thai Yellow Curry

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Cuisine: Thai
Keyword: Seafood
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 0 Servings 4
Author: recipetineats.com

Ingredients

THAI YELLOW CURRY PASTE:

  • 10 dried red chillis ~6cm/2.5" long, chopped into 1cm / 0.5" pieces (Note 1)
  • 1 – 4 fresh birds eye chillis deseeded, roughly (1 for extremely mild, 4 for fairly spicy, Note 2)
  • 2 lemongrass stems Note 3
  • 1 large or 2 small eschalots roughly chopped (~ 1/2 cup) (Note 4)
  • 2 tbsp fresh turmeric finely grated (about 2cm / 0.8" piece) (Note 5)
  • 2 tbsp galangal finely grated (about 2cm / 0.8" piece) (Note 6)
  • 8 cloves garlic roughly chopped
  • 1 ½ tbsp Thai shrimp paste in bean oil Note 7
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamom
  • ½ tsp fenugreek powder Note 8
  • ⅛ tsp white pepper sub black

CURRY:

  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil or canola or peanut oil
  • 1 medium potato peeled, cut into 2.5cm / 1″ pieces x 1cm/ 0.4″ thick (Note 9)
  • 1 small carrot peeled, sliced into 5mm / 0.2″ slices on the diagonal
  • 1 cup chicken stock low sodium
  • 300 ml / 10oz coconut cream Note 10
  • 4 tsp fish sauce plus more to taste (Note 11)
  • 5 tsp white sugar
  • 2 tsp tamarind puree Note 12
  • 350 g / 12oz prawns/shrimp medium, peeled, tail on optional (700g/1.4lb unpeeled) (Note 13)
  • ½ cup bamboo shoots canned, drained, loosely packed (Note 14)

GARNISHES & SERVING:

  • 16 Thai basil leaves highly recommended, Note 15
  • 1 Red chilli finely sliced (optional, use large for not spicy)
  • 2 tbsp Crispy fried shallots optional, store bought, Note 16
  • Jasmine rice

Instructions

CURRY PASTE:

  • Soak dried chillis: Roughly chop chillies and transfer to bowl, leaving behind seeds. Cover with boiling water and soak for 30 minutes then drain (reserve soaking water).
  • Check spiciness: Have a nibble of soaked chilli, should not be that spicy. If it is spicy, only use 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount (Note 1).
  • Prepare lemongrass: Remove woody top half and outer layers of lemongrass. Grate with microplane. (See in post or video for preparation demo)
  • Make curry paste: Place chillis, lemongrass and all remaining curry paste ingredients in a jar just wide enough to fit a stick blender. Add 3 tablespoons chilli soaking water. Blitz with stick blender until smooth so there's no hard grit – rub between your fingers to check – about 15 seconds on high. (Or use small food processor or Nutribullet, scraping down sides well).

CURRY:

  • Cook off curry paste: Heat oil in a medium heavy based skillet over medium heat. (Mine is a 26cm / 10.5" Lodget cast iron) Add curry paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until it dries out a bit a smells fragrant.
  • Reduce stock: Add chicken stock, stir to dissolve paste, then simmer for 1 minute.
  • Add remaining curry sauce ingredients: Reduce heat to medium low. Add tamarind, fish sauce and sugar. Stir until tamarind is dissolved. Then stir in coconut, carrot and potato.
  • Simmer: Bring to simmer, then simmer gently for 15 minutes or until potato is almost fully soft. Pierce with knife to check, it might take 20 minutes.
  • Prawns and bamboo shoots: Add prawns and bamboo shoots. Stir, then cook for 3 minutes until prawns are just cooked.
  • ADJUST sauce: Taste and adjust the curry sauce at this point. Thin sauce with stock or water, add salt, fish sauce or sugar if needed. See Note 17.
  • Serve! Transfer curry to serving bowl. Garnish with Thai Basil, fresh chilli and crispy shallots. Serve with jasmine rice.