When my husband and I were first married one of our favorite places to eat was a little Thai restaurant tucked next to a laundry mat and bookstore. They had the most delicious curry and spring rolls. Once I stopped working to stay home with our kids, gone were the days of eating out as much. So I experimented with making my own curry and I have to say we don’t miss restaurant curry at all! This curry is rich and smooth and slightly spicy. We love to use chicken as our protein. This recipe calls for a specific type of curry paste. Most national stores like Walmart will carry the red Thai Kitchen paste, which will also work, but try googling Asian markets in your neighborhood because most of them will carry this paste. I buy a lot of cans so I have all the ingredients on hand in my pantry. Making curry at home is so much cheaper and this recipe is really so simple. My kids still find the curry too spicy, so before I add the curry paste to the recipe I will take out the cooked chicken, carrots and potatoes and they eat that over rice. 

Thai Coconut Curry

1 tablespoon oil
1 can massaman curry paste (we prefer the Maesri brand) or 2 tablespoons red curry paste (like Thai Kitchen brand)
1 can coconut milk
1 can chicken broth**
1 chicken breast sliced thin
1 yellow onion sliced into thin slices
2-3 Russet potatoes, cut into large chunks
3 carrots cut into large chunks
Optional-1 bell pepper either orange or red

Heat oil in large pan over medium heat and saute onion for 3-5 minutes. Add sliced chicken and cook until the chicken is no longer pink and cooked through. Add the can of curry paste and mix with chicken and allow it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the coconut milk and chicken broth. Bring everything to a simmer and add the potatoes, carrots and bell pepper.  Simmer for 15-20 minutes until potatoes and carrots are tender. Serve over rice. We like to eat Calrose rice that we cook in our rice cooker.

*Tip- As a shortcut I place my potatoes and carrots in a microwave safe bowl and cover with water. Microwave for about 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Then I drain the water and add the cooked potatoes and carrots into the curry . This helps to make this meal even faster since I do this right when I am cooking the chicken so I don’t have to wait for them to cook later on.

**We have this curry in our regular meal rotation and I have started omitting the can of chicken broth. The curry goes further with it added, but without it the curry is more thick and creamy. So if you prefer a thicker curry omit the chicken broth completely or only use half the can.

***A few other notes-I use a frozen chicken breast that is slightly thawed so that I can cut it into really thin strips. This makes slicing it much easier. Also, if you are sensitive to spice you may want to start with just a few tablespoons of the masaman curry and then taste it after it has been simmered and add more according to your taste.  We also like serving the curry with peanuts on top for added crunch.