Thursday, February 11, 2010

Kaeng Kari Gai แกงกะหรี่ไก่ Yellow Chicken Curry


"Yellow" (also known as Thai Indian curry) is a lesser known member of the Thai curry family compared to it's brother "green" and sister "red". 

It is  is a rich and aromatic curry with heavy Indian influence; it is evidence in the use of dry spices like cumin, coriander, bay leaves, turmeric and so on.  Also, it is always accompanied by a refreshing cucumber relish - archat  (or achar in several Indian dialects). Beef, lamb or duck can be used and potatoes, sweet potatoes and pumpkins can also be added. If you are keen to make your own curry paste , leave me a note and I'll be more than happy to email you our family recipe.

P.S As like other Thai curries, the "cracking of the coconut" is a very important step (photo 4)


serves 6 as part of a Thai meal
you'll need;
1 free range chicken, cut into 20 pieces
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large onion, cut into large pieces
1 can 270 ml of coconut cream (Ayam brand)
1 can 270 ml of coconut milk (ayam brand)
4 tbs of homemade or shop bought yellow curry paste 
2 bay leaves
6 shallots, sliced and fried til golden
3 tbs of palm sugar
fish sauce to taste
coriander sprigs and chillies for garnish

Brown chicken and set a side.

Place the coconut cream in a pot and cook til it starts to split, oil will start to separate from the cream.

Add curry paste and bay leaves; mix everything well and fry on low heat for a few minutes.

Add chicken pieces and 1 tsp of turmeric powder and mix well.

Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for a further 15 minutes and finally the onions and half the fried shallots can go in, simmer for another minute.

Garnish with coriander leaves, chillies and the rest of the fried shallots. I love to serve it with a cucumber relish and plenty of steamed jasmine rice.

38 comments:

  1. ยินดี มาก! จริงๆ รัก แกงกะหรี่ไก่!

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  2. I love Thai food and this is one of my favourite........thanks for sharing !

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  3. aaahhhh I love this tooo...everything u cook I love!!!

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  4. Wow, my mouth is watering and I am supposed to be getting ready for bed!

    Please tell me more about the curry paste recipe...I use the same curry paste that you use but would love to make it from scratch one day.

    Thanks for sharing another great recipe and tip.

    Best wishes,
    Natasha.

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  5. I wish one day I could cook curry dishes as good as you! It looks so tempting!

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  6. muu,
    Hehe! ขอบคุณ มาก!

    Pearlyn,
    You are welcome! I'm so glad you like it!

    zurin,
    Thank you very much! I'll set an extra seat for you next time.

    Natasha,
    Thank you! I'll email you the recipe. :)

    Angie,
    Thank you very much! It is not very difficult at all, in fact to stir fry well is harder :)

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  7. We order green, red or panaeng all the time. This looks really delicious, will certainly try this next time!

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  8. One of my favourite Thai curry, I've ordered this once from my local Thai but it just looked like chicken swimming in yellow cream without the nice film of oil on the surface. So who is cooking tonight ? :)

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  9. I didn't know there is such thing as Thai yellow curry until today. Such tempting looking photos! I can almost taste it!

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  10. This is such flavourful dish! Can eat whole lot of that.

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  11. Such fabulous step by step photos! Good to know which brand of paste to get (I frequently get the Mae Ploy brand red curry paste :)). Hungry now!

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  12. Wow wonderful looking curry, the menu this week has been very diverse! Good job!

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  13. LMH,
    Haha! You'll be surprised how delicious this is!

    rosa,
    I'm glad you know what a good curry should look like :) You'll have to check the blog tmr :)

    CW,
    Haha! you'll have to try then! Thank you!

    My Little Space ,
    Oh thanks! That is a fairly large bowl :)

    shaz,
    Thank you! It is a good brand and it comes in a large tub too! Haha!

    Harriet,
    Thank you very much, I haven't been really in the mood for cooking so all very safe dishes lol

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  14. I don't think I have ever met a curry I didn't like. I love coconut milk in savory dishes. In the American...most people only think of coconut as being used for desserts.

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  15. Yum! This curry sounds really excellent with the addition of coconut cream!

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  16. Oh...I'm so far behind today! 吃完了?

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  17. Yummy...and u r right about the Indian influence...

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  18. Lovely coconut flavored chicken curry...

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  19. C'est toujours un plaisir de te rendre visite.
    A bientôt.

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  20. This curry looks delicious! You're right, cracking the coconut is a very important step in making a good curry.

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  21. Hello!! I love the way you split the coconut cream at the start of the process ... I do this for alot of my curries now too. And I would soooo love to have your family recipe for the curry paste.

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  22. Not familiar with yellow curry, might have seen it on the menu though.
    The curry looks so delicious and I must try making some soon!

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  23. Hey buddy the curry looks great! Chillies are ripe for harvest now! See you soon mate!

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  24. Oh this is new to me! I certainly will look out for yellow curry next time we dine at a Thai restaurant! Looks very tempting of course!

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  25. What a beautiful looking bowl of curry! Thanks for introducing us to the lesser known sister :) Do you celebrate Chinese New Year?

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  26. Bo,
    I'm glad you like it! You put some curries on your blog too :)

    5 Star Foodie ,
    Thank you ver much! It is one of the richest Thai curry around :)

    Ancoo,
    Haha too late ! 吃完了!!

    Cicily,
    Thank you! :)

    Gulmohar ,
    Thank you very much :)

    Saveurs et Gourmandises,
    Merci beaucoup! :)

    Fresh Local and Best,
    Thank you! I'm so glad you agree with me on that :)

    Tamesek,
    I'm glad you started cracking the coconut too :) I'll email you the recipe sometimes next week :)

    KL girl in MELB ,
    Thank you! You really must give it a try!

    fitzboy,
    Thanks buddy! Must drop by tmr, chillies are getting very expensive haha!

    Mary,
    Please do! Thank you!

    love to eat,
    Thank you very much and you are most welcome!
    Not celebrating in a big way, just meals with love ones :)

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  27. Look at those fried shallots/onions in the curry. I want to include them next time when I cook curry.

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  28. i love love love your site so much! everything looks like it came from a restaurant :).

    i love curries!

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  29. 黃加哩沒吃過,有點像馬來加哩呀 !

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  30. Oh i love this...looks super yummy!!! thanx for this wonderful recipe..

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  31. If ever I go to Australia I am so coming over for dinner.

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  32. I totally agree with you that the coconut milk need to split. Unlike French sauces, the oil break is very desirable in Thai curries. You're also right about Ajard. Very great informative and authentic post:) thanks for sharing.

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  33. Another great post! I have started cracking the coconut when I cook Thai curries after reading your green curry post, the results are tastier and better looking curries! Thank you! :)

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  34. This is one curry we have not tried making yet! Love the photos!

    Sophia xxx

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  35. 大肥 ,
    會比馬來加哩甜。

    Sarah,
    Thank you!

    pigpigscorner ,
    Oh thank you very much!

    Alex,
    Absolutely!

    CheapAppetite ,
    Thank you very much!

    mycookinghut,
    Thank you!

    Tricia,
    Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that!

    Sophia darling,
    Do it soon!! xxx

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  36. love all Thai dishes! great step by step instructions here!

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