Thai curry has been our all-time favorite. We have tried this dish at lot many places and have particularly liked it at some places. The ones that I remember and usually relish are Courtyard @ Andheri (w) serves very good green thai curry & Five Spice also serves great thai curry pot rice, which is orange in color and is a little spicy.
The essential ingredients of a lovely thai curry are lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves; they absolutely change normal curry into very beautiful, flavorful curry.
Being a holiday on Wednesday, decided to cook a full meal (actually was struggling to decide the menu from Tuesday evening, but couldn’t make my mind) and finally decided the below menu for Wednesday morning. Rushed to Star Bazaar to get the ingredients – chicken, paneer, mushroom, zuchhini, lemon grass, kaffir leaves, etc
· Thai curry (chicken & vegetarian) Rice
· Chicken tikka
· Paneer & mushroom tikka
· Sautéed greens
The menu had to have equal elements of vegetarian food because my mum wasn’t eating non-veg (some kind of fasting)
Now, it would have been great if I could have marinated the chicken a night earlier, so that it absorbs as much as possible.
I also did not get my hands on kaffir lime leaves. Now, the thing is that the curry did not miss those leaves, but the addition could have stepped up the flavor, a little more
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| Non-Veg Platter - Chicken Thai Curry Rice with Chicken Tikkas & Sauteed Greens |
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| Veg Platter - Veg Thai Curry Rice with Paneer and Mushroom Tikkas & Sauteed Greens |
Let’s have a look at the recipes…
1. Thai Curry Rice
Ingredients for curry paste
Green chillies | 4 to 5 | |
Ginger garlic paste | 2 tbpsn | |
Lemon grass | 3 to 4 sticks | I added more of lemon grass, as there was no kaffir leaves |
Garlic cloves | 3 to 4 | Addition to the ginger garlic paste, I put some more garlic |
Spring onions | 6 to 7 | Only the onions, no green stems |
Basil leaves (tulsi) | 5 to 6 leaves | |
Sugar | 1 tbspn | |
Salt | To taste |
Ingredients for curry
Coconut milk | 300 ml | |
Boneless chicken chunks (Cut in ½ inch cubes) | 300 gms | For the vegetarian, use mushrooms (6), zucchini (100 gms) & french beans (50 gms) – cut vertically (about an inch long) |
Oil | 2 to 3 tbspn |
Ingredients for Rice
Basmati Rice | 2 cups |
Salt | As per taste |
Olive oil | 1 tbpsn |
Spring onion – only stems | 5 to 6 |
Star anise (chakra phool) | 2 to 3 |
Method
1. For the rice
a. boil the rice in a pan with oil and salt and olive oil (half-cook the rice)
b. In a pan, add some more oil and star anise
c. Put half of the cut spring onions and stir fry it
d. Add the rice, stir it for 3 to 4 minutes & add the remaining spring onions (the rice is already half-cooked and hence don’t keep it on high flame for a long time or else it will stick to the bottom)
2. For the paste
a. put all ingredients in a mixer and grind it until it becomes a smooth paste (I added little ¼ cup water to get the smooth semi-thick consistency) (Important Note: The paste should be very hot (spicy), if it’s not too hot, then suggest to add some more chilies – this should be done because while making the curry, the coconut milk will subdue the spiciness to a large extent and make the curry bland)
3. For the curry
a. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add 2 tbspn of the curry paste (u can use more if you think or keep it for some other day in the refrigerator) and saute for 2 to 3 minutes
b. Add the chicken chunks and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until they are cooked
c. Add the greens – zucchini & French beans
d. Pour the coconut milk and keep stirring
e. Add salt (as required). The curry will start turning green and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes
4. Serve nice and hot along with basmati rice (as shown in the picture)
For the vegetarian thai curry, replace chicken with more quantity of zucchini, French beans and mushroom. I like those veggies and hence added very little zucchini and French beans to my chicken thai curry.
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2. Chicken / Paneer & Mushroom tikkas
Ingredients
Chicken drumsticks | 5 | |
Paneer | 300 gms | Cut in 2 inch long; ½ inch thick |
Mushrooms | 5 to 6 | |
Curd | 1 ½ cup | Hung in a muslin cloth for 20 minutes |
Garam masala | 6 to 7 | |
Red chilli powder | 5 to 6 leaves | |
dried fenugreek (Kasuri methi) | 1 tbspn | |
Turmeric powder | 1 tspn | |
Salt | To taste |
Method
1. Cover the chicken, paneer and mushroom with all the ingredients and marinate it for minimum 2 hours (ideal marination for chicken would be overnight)
2. Place the chicken in a microwave dish and cook it on
3. Grease a baking tray with olive oil (or butter) and place the marinated paneer and mushrooms in it. Use the Grill option in the oven for 8 minutes @540 degrees. Turn the pieces and further grill for 4 to 5 minutes, till the pieces are nicely charred
4. Place the drumsticks in a borosil dish and cook it for 10 minutes on one side, followed by another 5 minutes by turning the pieces
5. Serve hot and place besides the other preparations
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3. Sautéed Greens
Ingredients
Zucchini | 100 gms | Cut in 1 inch long |
French beans | 6 to 7 sticks | Cut in 1 inch long |
Mushrooms | 5 to 6 | Vertically sliced |
Green Peas | ½ cup | |
Olive oil | 1 tbpsn | |
Oregano | 1 tspn | |
Salt | To taste |
Method
1. Cover the veggies with olive oil, oregano and salt and leave aside for an hour
2. Heat a tava and put all the veggies and stir fry for about 2 to 3 minutes. The veggies should have some crunch and should not be over cooked
Serve besides the rice and thai curry. The side dish has nice colors and is very healthy
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