Spectacular Chicken Panang Curry

      Wonderfully aromatic, Panang curry is our Thai friend's favorite.  When you taste it, you'll know why!  Whenever Suchakree arrives early on Friday night, he likes to come into the kitchen and finish the curry. He likes it spicy, and often he will add 1 or 2 tablespoons more of the curry paste.

  You can find the basic structure for making Thai curry on the backs of AROY-D  or Mae Ploy curry pastes. I've learned a lot about Thai cooking from my son who worked for a few years at a Thai restaurant in college, and during that time helped me make curry every Friday night for our Bible study.  

   I  also learned a lot about  making curries from my favorite Thai cookbook called Thai Cooking in a Sufi's Kitchen.  I learned about the proportion of fish sauce, sugar, and in some curries salt or tamarind that makes these curries taste great.  One thing I've changed is when I double this curry or any others, I don't double the fish sauce. I'll leave that up to you, but I don't like the fish sauce to be too strong.

Chicken Panang Curry   - Serves 6 to 8

1.  Prepare chicken:  Rinse and cut 2 chicken breasts into bite size pieces.  Put into the frig until needed.

2.  Prepare veggies:  

(1)  Cut up 1 green and 1 red pepper into thin strips. 

(2)  Slice 1 medium onion into thin pieces.

(3)  Cut 2 carrots into medium size chunks .

(4)  Chop 2 potatoes into 1" cubes or in wedges. 

(5)  Steam carrots and potatoes in a small saucepan until almost tender.

3.  Cook curry:  Put 2 T oil into an electric skillet and add 3-4 T of curry and stir fry on medium-low until fragrant. Add ½ can of regular coconut milk and increase heat to medium-high.  Stir and cook curry paste and coconut milk for a few minutes until the oil starts to appear on the surface. I would suggest you start with the 3 tablespoons in this recipe, and then taste it midway, and if it's not spicy enough for you, then add 1-2 more tablespoons of the paste

4.  Cook the chicken:    
(1)  Add chicken breasts and 2 lime leaves snipped into small pieces.  Stir and cook until chicken is cooked through. 
(2) Then add the rest of the coconut milk and another entire can.  Continue cooking until the mixture comes to a boil, then turn it down.  Try not to let the curry boil!

5.  Add the veggies: 
(1)  Then reduce the heat to medium  and add  2 T fish sauce and 2 tsp. sugar.
(2)  Add the bell peppers, and the steamed vegetables. You can add basil leaves if you like.  I don't always have them on hand, and this recipe still tastes amazing!
(3)  Taste it and balance any flavors.  Sugar cuts the heat; so you can add a tablespoon or so to tone it down. 

Blog update 5-10-13:  I made this curry for a Bible study dinner and fellowship we have, and this time I made it just with the peppers, onions, and I also threw in a bit of zucchini and summer squash. which by the way tastes great in this curry.

Check out some of the other curries on this blog!

Tasty Thai Red Curry   (Modified  recipe from back of curry paste & Thai recipe)

Fantastic Thai Green Curry (Modified a recipe from back of curry paste & Thai recipe)

Rose's Authentic Chinese Yellow Curry  (From a Taiwanese friend who brought this to dinner)

Thai Salmon & Vegetables in Green Curry  ( Modified recipe from Internet search)

Massaman Chicken Curry with Yams & Pineapple (Modified  recipe from back of curry paste & Thai recipe)

Spectacular Chicken Panang Curry (Modified  recipe from back of curry paste &  recipe)

Amazing Vegetable Panang Curry (Modified recipe from back of curry paste & Thai recipe)

Gluten Free Thai Chicken & Pumpkin Curry  (From Internet search)

Other Thai Recipes on This Blog 

Making Gluten Free Pad Thai With a Thai Student (A combination of recipes & student's know how!)

Gluten Free Thai Basil Beef    (From Internet search)

How to Make Your Own Thai Fresh Rolls   (From Internet search)

Rachel Ray's Thai chicken with Basil & Pineapple   (From Internet search)

Gai Pad Prik (Chicken with Peppers) in a Peanut Sauce  (From Internet search)
A Great Thai Soup - Gluten Free & Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup  (Modified from Internet search)
Delicious Gluten Free Thai Wraps  (From Internet search)