I am a big fan of curries–be it Malaysian, Indian, or Thai. Born and raised in Malaysia, I love food with strong flavors and curries deliver just that.
For many home cooks, curries appear intimidating and too complicated to make at home, but it’s actually quite a simple feat. As much as I love to cook authentic foods and try not to take short cuts in preparing home-cooked meals, I hardly ever make my curries from scratch; in fact, there is no reason to make it from scratch considering the quality of products available in the market…
In Malaysia, go to any wet markets and you can easily buy fresh spice paste from spice vendors. Just tell the vendor what you are making, and voila, you’ve got yourself a packet of custom-blended spice paste, tailored to your liking. If not, pick up the many varieties of pre-packaged curry powders that taste just as good as the freshly ground spices.
In the US, there are plenty of options, too, especially Thai and Indian curry pastes. Go to any Asian food stores and you can find various canned and bottled curry pastes, all imported directly from India and Thailand. (The Malaysian varieties are still pretty scarce unfortunately, but can be found at Southeast Asian stores.)
For my Chicken Panang Curry, I used just that–a can of off-the-shelf Maesri Panang Curry Paste. It was really simple; a painless yet delicious curry dish in less than 30 minutes, but tasted like it’s straight from Bangkok (well, almost!). While most people prefer Mae Ploy brand for Thai curries, I always go for Maesri due to the small can packaging that lasts me about 2-3 preparations instead of months. I tend to stay away from Mae Ploy brand due to its bigger plastic packaging (the curry paste turned moldy on me, despite being refrigerated). However, you can’t go wrong with either brand when it comes to making Thai curries at home. They are as good as what you get in Thai restaurants, I promise.
Related Recipes:
Adapted from Thai Cooking Made Easy
Ingredients:
1 skinless & boneless chicken breast (cut into small cubes)
1 tablespoon oil
2-3 tablespoons Panang curry paste (depends how strong or spicy you like your curry)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 cup frozen green peas
4-6 kaffir lime leaves (slightly bruised)
Method:
Heat up a pot with oil. Add in the Panang curry paste and do a quick stir until aromatic. Add in the chicken meat and blend well with the curry paste, then add in the green peas, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, water and the seasonings. Lower the heat to medium and let it simmer for 8-10 minutes. Serve hot with steamed white rice.
Cook’s Note:
You can use beef instead of chicken.
Related Posts:
- Red Curry Recipe
- Green Curry Recipe
- Chicken Curry
- Chicken Curry Kapitan Recipe
- Beef Massaman Curry Recipe
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
very nice picture. love it!
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Love all the pictures.. ;) great recipe too.. :)
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I adore Thai curries! The spicier the better! :D
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This is the exact way I make my Thai Curry too!! I love the taste that kiffir lime leaves gives … definately a must to this dish!!!
I normally use drumsticks bcos, I love to suck on the bones!!!
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Can I have two giant bowls of rice please!
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Ohh…I love the fragrance of Kaffir lime leaves so much! Just looking at the deep color of the sauce i can tell this curry is a winner. I can almost taste it when i close my eyes… maybe i’ve been a chef for too long! hahaha
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I also love strong flavours in my food. I always say to people, ‘I like flavours that know their own minds!!’
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I also want two bowls of rice! You have enough gravy to share among all of us? :P
I’m curious - is Panang curry , red curry or yellow curry? Of green, red and yellow, do you know which is the ULTIMATE Thai curry?
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mental jog
you love curry too, BY? me too! seems like we share the same taste in food.
i love curry but i don’t like chicken curry! er… i mean i don’t the chicken in the curry but i like the curry. (i only like fried chicken). i prefer beef curry, fish curry, prawn curry and so on.
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I made this dish and finished off the last of it for dinner last night…it’s perfect for serving a large group!! I also used thighs instead of breasts. It withstood many microwaves throughout the last few days. It makes me want to run out make more.
Bee - where do you find your Kaffir Lime Leaves? I’ve been searching ALL OVER TOWN (even went to thai town!) and also tried to go to local nurseries to buy one!
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I love panang curry. Yours looks delicious, I will have to see if I can find the panang curry paste next time I go to the Asian market.
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Panang Curry is our favorite one, except that we ahve it with veggies, no meat! I love the color of your curry, looks very nice:)
Wish you happy holidays!
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happy new year~
love your photos!
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That looks great! I recently tried making some penang curry paste. Though it took a bit of effort to make it was a fun experience.
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Yet another great recipe and useful suggestions from your site Rasa! On to another of your curry topics and going back awhile, I am also a big fan of the A1 curry pastes for Malaysian style chicken and fish curries. Fortunately packets are readily available here in Melbourne, AU. Have a happy New Year!
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what is the difference of the Panang curry? curry sometimes taste the same to me.. dont have the taste buds to tell the differents
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the panang curry is something new to me
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Heavenly curries from thai, but Panang is heavenly delicious!
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this looks amazing — there’s a great thai market near where i work, i’ll have to pick some curry paste up!
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Gorgeous curry! I must admit that after growing up only with Korean/Japanese versions of curry, I’m still acquiring a taste for true curries, but from what I’ve tasted so far, I’ve loved it all :D
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RM, stop torturing us and open a restuarant in Msia now! hehe..
btw, happy new year to you!!
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oh rasa, this looks so delicious! i wish you taught photography classes i just got a d80 for xmas but dont know how to use it yet.
whats cooking this week?
Aria
ps i see you have been food buzzed too ;)
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Anonymous - thanks!
Mamabok - thank you. :)
Kenny - agreed!
Tricia - yes, drumstick is so good with curries. The meat is just moist and falls off the bone. Hehe.
Cindy - sure, I just made a big pot for you, help yourself. :P
Zen Chef - I love kaffir lime leaves too, but have you used curry leaves? I think curry leaves have even better smell and it’s what we use for Malaysian-Indian curries. Try them!!!
Helen - agreed with both hands and legs!! ;)
Tiga - great question. I don’t know either, but to tell you the truth, I think most of them taste the same to me: Panang, Yellow, Red. Green curries taste different…maybe I should ask Chez Pim what is the ultimate Thai curries. Hehe.
Lucia - you crack me up. It’s just like when you told me “I like Bak Kut Teh, just the Teh, not the Bak Kut.” LOL.
Jen - you can get kaffir lime leaves from 99 Ranch. I am not sure which one you go to, but I always get mine from them. They are at the herbs area…
Cedar - good luck!
Mansi Desai - yes, vegetables work well for this curry, too!
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Yoyo - Happy New Year to you, too!
Kevin - wow, you made the curry paste? That’s awesome, I salute yuo. :)
Towser - thanks for your comment. I loooooove A1. Malaysian curries taste so much different from Thai curries, A1 is a gem. I am glad you can get them in AU.
Teckiee - LOL. It’s hard to describe, it does taste saltier and not as sweet compared to Yellow or Red curries but I agree, some curries tend to taste similar. :P
Jackson - maybe you can ask for it when you go eat Thai food.
Big Boys Oven - yes, it was good. :)
Sugarlaws - that’s great. Good luck!
Ellie - personally, I don’t like Japanese curries…it’s not spicy enough and too sweet and starchy. You will slowly acquire the taste I am sure! :)
SC - LOL, I wish. Maybe one day. Thanks for your kind comment and encouragement though. :)
Aria - D80 huh? I am soooo jealous. Left a comment on your site for you, too.
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I tried your recipe tonight with prawns and squid, and it was absolutely stunning.
While I agree with you on the bought pastes being good and easy (I sometimes use Amoy and Blue Dragon) I absolutely love making my own. It really isn’t hard and the results are so much better if you use fresh ingredients. Flavour Shaker is a big help if you can’t be bothered with a pestle and mortar.
And I’m a Malaysian curry fan too, I LOVE making Curry Laksa. Brings back KL in a moment.
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Could you recommend a good brand for fish sauce. You photos… Awesome!!!! love your blog. My sincere good wishes.
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Jasmine - I like the 3 Crabs brand from Vietnam. The packaging has 3 crabs on it and it’s in pink. The brand is Viet Huong.
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bender said it tastes great and he wants me to try it
:D
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chicken panang curry sounds delicious. Im going to make this using your chicken panang curry recipe.
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