Red Curry Chicken with Bell Peppers
A jar of curry paste toasted hard in oil, then simmered with coconut milk and chicken thighs until the sauce clings — faster than delivery and better.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Written
Method
-
Warm the oil in a wide pot or wok over medium-high heat and add the curry paste, stirring until it darkens a shade and smells toasted rather than raw, about 1 minute.
-
Add the coconut milk in two additions, stirring the paste into it each time until smooth, then bring to a simmer.
-
Add the chicken, fish sauce, and brown sugar, and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
-
Add the bell peppers and green beans and cook until the peppers have softened but still hold their shape, about 5 minutes.
-
Stir in the lime juice and taste for salt, adding more fish sauce if the sauce still tastes flat.
-
Scatter with basil and sliced chili, and serve over rice.
Notes
The paste is doing most of the flavor work, so don’t skip toasting it in bare oil before the coconut milk goes in — a minute of direct heat is what turns it from a can of spiced coconut soup into something that tastes like curry. Add the coconut milk gradually and it’ll emulsify into the paste instead of separating into an oily layer.
Chicken thighs hold up best here, but shrimp or a block of pressed tofu both work if you add them in the last few minutes instead of simmering the whole time. Jasmine rice is the only accompaniment this needs.