Lisa’s Letters Home: A Lovely Thai-Indian Chicken Curry

Maybe it’s the fact that curry is so popular in England or maybe it’s the 500 Indian takeaway meals I had during pregnancy (heartburn be damned), but my kids love a chicken curry. They love a good korma or tikka masala, but they also love Thai curries.

I put out a plea on Twitter for new and easy chicken curry ideas, as I tend to make the same three dishes over and over. I needed a fast one for an after work meal for the family. My friend Lisa Stewart emailed me, as she put it, an “amazing curry” recipe. It really does live up to its name: not only is it amazingly simple, it’s amazingly delicious.

It’s like a combination of a satay sauce and coconut milk-based Indian curry sauce. It tastes lightly sweet, mildly spiced, and is incredibly fragrant. Now, here’s a word about fish sauce if you’ve not used it before: don’t smell it. Your brain will never comprehend how something that smells so heinous can make food taste good, but it does. It’s probably got to do with umami or some other foody word, but by the gods it stinks. Don’t try to understand it; just go with it.

If you can’t have peanuts, any nut butter will do. I tried this with cashew butter and it was equally delicious. You could probably use low fat coconut milk, but I think you’ll have to compromise on flavour. Lisa’s original recipe calls for chicken breasts but I always use thighs in curries – you’ll never end up with dry chicken in your stews or curries if you use thighs.

I made it ahead of time and reaheated it on the stove, which made the sauce separate a little – but it was nothing a good stir couldn’t fix. I served it on top of the type of rice noodles you’d use for pad Thai, but basmati or jasmine rice would be great as well.

This was a hit with the whole family. Thank you Lisa, for your Friday post-work supper inspiration!