Chicken Curry Sauce

Name: Chicken Curry Sauce with Vegetables and Rice
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Chicken fillet 1; Zucchini 1; Onion 1; Bell pepper 3-4; Lime 1; Coconut milk 400 ml; Vegetable oil 3-4 tbsp; Rice 1 cup (180 g); Water for the rice 2 cups (400 ml); Curry paste 1 packet; Kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, cane sugar to taste

☆ Rate it

45 mins

We usually make chicken curry sauce with vegetables or simply serve it over boiled rice. It is easy and uses accessible ingredients, unlike guacamole, where most of the components are rather exotic. Most stores sell packets of a ready-made curry paste for this dish, and you can always pick a paste with a heat level you like. Surprisingly, these products contain almost no “useful” additives. Their composition is quite simple, so it is easy to make the paste yourself from basic spices.

Besides the name of a seasoning or spice blend, “curry” also means a whole class of Asian dishes. As a rule, these are thick or thin dishes made of vegetables, legumes, meat, fish and so on, and in most cases they are served with rice. The word “curry” itself comes from Tamil and means sauce, so it applies to any dish served with one. Curry pastes and powders are made by mixing a great many ingredients, which can be left out or replaced.

The dry spice blend that is often sold here is made from turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, chili and many other ingredients. Such blends can be hot or very mild. By the way, in cheap blends fenugreek often stands in for curry leaves. The final composition depends heavily on the region, the tradition and the dish itself, and in home cooking it is often quite approximate.

You can make chicken curry quickly at home. Pieces of chicken fillet are fried with vegetables, then simmered in a coconut milk sauce with a spice paste. You can buy ready-made paste for the sauce or mix your own. The dish can be made to any consistency you like, but it is best as a thick sauce with large pieces of chicken and vegetables.

Store-bought blends come in small packets and can differ a lot in composition and heat. For chicken it is better to choose a so-called “yellow” curry with mild heat, which should be stated on the package.

The paste is fried in oil flavored with Thai basil and kaffir lime. Palm or cane sugar and ready-made sauces such as fish sauce and soy sauce are often added, then everything is simmered with coconut milk or cream. When the sauce is ready, the pre-fried chicken and coarsely cut vegetables are stewed in it. Chicken curry goes especially well with rice, which is the most common way to serve it. My daughter and I often cook this dish together, and we always thank each other.

11 ingredientsTo the recipe

More with chicken breast

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

45 min

Chicken Quesadillas

20 min

Cobb Salad with Chicken Breast and Avocado

45 min

Tomato Soup

1 h 10 min

Chicken Stuffed Peppers

1 h 30 min

Ingredients

4 servings

Chicken fillet 1
Zucchini 1
Onion 1
Bell pepper 3-4
Lime 1
Coconut milk 400 ml
Vegetable oil 3-4 tbsp
Rice 1 cup
(180 g)
Water for the rice 2 cups
(400 ml)
Curry paste 1 packet
Kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, cane sugar to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Turn on cook modeKeeps your screen from turning off while the recipe is open

It is best to take one large fillet or two small ones. This is enough for four servings of chicken curry. A young zucchini with light green skin makes an excellent addition. Take a few fairly fleshy bell peppers, which together with the onion give the dish its volume of vegetables. Peppers are often added to stews. Lime gives a special flavor and goes into many Asian dishes.
Dried kaffir lime leaves give the dish a special flavor. They are easy to buy in large stores, sold in packets of a few grams. The plant grows in Asia and is a citrus. Kaffir lime leaves are an essential part of tom yum soup. We use them to flavor vegetable oil: pour the oil into a wok, set it over the heat and add about 1 gram of dried leaves. Fry for a few minutes.
Cut the chicken fillet into slices small enough to pick up with chopsticks. Add the chicken to the flavored oil. Stirring, fry it until it turns pale. There is no need to brown it heavily, as Asian dishes are typically only lightly fried. By the way, the kaffir lime leaves can stay in the sauce, they do no harm.
Peel the onion and cut it into strips. Add the onion to the chicken and keep frying until soft. Peel the bell pepper and cut it into strips lengthwise. Add the pepper to the wok and fry everything together.
If the zucchini is young, you do not need to peel it. If the skin has become tough, it is better to cut it off. If seeds have formed, scrape them out with a spoon. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise, then crosswise into slices about 1 cm thick. Fry all the vegetables and chicken together until completely soft. Transfer the fried mixture to a plate.
In the same wok, using the remaining oil, make the curry sauce. Squeeze the contents of the packet of paste into the oil. If the paste is hot and you do not want a “fiery” dish, use half of the packet. The rest can be kept in the refrigerator. Add 1 tbsp of cane sugar (14 g) or any brown sugar and 1 tbsp of ready-made fish sauce. Stirring, fry the mixture for 3-4 mins.
Open the can of coconut milk and stir it well. By the way, coconut cream is also sold, and it is quite rich. Pour the milk into the fried paste and stir well until the liquid begins to simmer gently. Simmer for 2-3 mins.
Add the chicken and vegetables to the curry sauce all at once. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer the chicken with the curry and vegetables over low heat for 10-12 mins. During this time the sauce becomes smooth and slightly thick. Shortly before the end, squeeze in the juice of half a lime; the sauce should taste distinctly sour. Many people even prefer it more sour.
Cook the rice until fully done. Thais usually use round sticky rice, but jasmine or basmati, which are easier to find, will work too. Rice is usually cooked in plain water without salt or spices, using two parts of water to one part of rice. Serve the cooked rice separately in a small bowl.
Serve the chicken with vegetables and curry sauce in a separate bowl, set next to the rice. Add a few lime wedges. If you like, add some chopped fresh chili.
Chicken curry sauce is quite often served as a first course. For that it is made rather thin. We also often make a version close to a soup and serve it with rice.