Chicken in Thai Curry

When we talk about the jaw-dropping multitude of dishes that Thailand’s bustling spice-laden cuisine has to offer, the signature dish that finds unanimous acceptance as Thai cuisine’s irrefutable identity is its curry which has two famous variants – red and green. One such globe-trotting Thai preparation enjoyed by billions today is the Chicken in Thai Curry which boasts of some of the most lusciously tender chicken chunks in exquisite fiery, fragrant gravies. Though both red and green curry preparations today primarily rest on market-procured curry pastes, there is something truly adventurous about gathering the hand-picked ingredients to patiently replicate an authentic blend.

To make Chicken in Thai curry, irrespective of the colour variant, some ingredients like coconut oil, coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, shrimp paste, and fish sauce remain unchanged. When it comes to green curry, green chillies, shallot, lime zest, makrut lime leaves, and coriander stems take the centre stage. The red curry paste, on the other hand, mixes red chillies, sriracha, jalapeno seed, and red pepper flakes to achieve its typical crimson hue. While the green Thai curry is often regarded as the most iconic dish to have emerged from Thailand, it is the red curry that stays on top of the popularity charts in western cultures. The reason behind the obsession with Thai curries is its iconic Umami.

Interestingly, curry is an anglicised version of Tamil ‘Kari’ signifying an Indian origin of the preparation that dates back to 2500 BCE. Throughout its long and vibrant history of visitors, travellers, conquerors and colonisers, Indian recipes have forever disseminated all across and particularly in southeast Asia, including Thailand.

The chillies that lend the Thai curries their typical taste and hue owe their preponderance to Columbus’ discovery of chillies in Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. As soon as these new culinary condiments were brought back to Europe, they spread out like wildfire to all European colonies. Though the Portuguese never settled in Thailand, their brief halt was enough to introduce chilli peppers to the Thai repository. A combination of these exotic ingredients with locally prevalent coconut and shrimp created the modern Thai curry that has historically revolutionised the spice indices of people all over the world.