I love curry. SO. MUCH. It’s actually ridiculous how much I love it. And once I learned how easy it was to make at home, I rarely even order it in restaurants. My daughter is also addicted and could eat this curry every day if I made it that often, which I could if I wanted to because its so ridiculously easy.

The secret ingredient is Mae Ploy yellow curry paste. Don’t even mess with the Thai Kitchen brand, this is the real stuff and tastes 1000% better and is also way more economical than those tiny jars. And the best thing yet, there are only spices/herbs in the Mae Ploy brand and not any weird ingredients. It also keeps for months in the fridge (like over 6 months) if you keep it sealed tightly in the plastic bag which comes in the cardboard jar/box thing.

It’s also important to use a high fat content coconut milk. You can also use coconut cream, but I find that coconut milk works just fine. Read your labels though… make sure your coconut milk doesn’t have any weird chemicals in it. I like the Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk since it has 14 grams of fat per serving, has only guar gum and coconut, and doesn’t break the bank. The only thing it should have for stabilizing is guar gum. Some people are against any stabilizers in coconut milk, and I agree but I’m also being realistic. Pick the coconut milk that has the highest fat content per serving, and make sure the serving sizes between the cans are the same so that you’re comparing apples to apples (or coconuts to coconuts).

Tips for making Chicken Curry

• Once you figure out your personal ratio of curry paste to coconut milk, you can double or triple this recipe very easily. Start with my guidelines below unless you’re a beginner or sensitive to spice, then maybe halve the amount of curry paste below.
• I mix up the veggies in this curry depending on what I have on hand. But I do usually put in a sweet potato because it goes so well with it.
• For a paleo, whole30, primal or low carb meal, serve over cauliflower ‘rice’, spaghetti squash ‘noodles’, or julienne zucchini.
• Mae Ploy also makes Red, Green, and Panang curry which I also have. The yellow is the best for beginners since the others are a bit hotter in spice.

Coconut Chicken Yellow Curry

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
• 1 Tablespoon Mae Ploy yellow curry paste (see note above – use less if you’re sensitive to spice) or you can use Red or Green curry too!
• optional: one teaspoon fermented Thai fish sauce
• 1 can whole coconut milk (coconut and guar gum only – pick the brand with the most fat per 1/3 cup serving)
• 1 cup cooked cubed chicken (I use leftover roasted chicken to make this even easier)
• optional – any other cooked leftover veggies that you have

Preparation:

1. In a cast iron pan on medium high heat, saute onion and sweet potato in the coconut oil or ghee until the sweet potato is almost cooked through when pierced with a fork. Covering the pan to steam them after an initial saute works well.
2. Add the curry paste and optional fish sauce (if using) to the veggies and combine until they’re covered. It won’t look perfect at this point and may be lumpy.
3. Add the coconut milk and stir to combine. Heat until all of the ingredients meld together and there are no lumps of paste.
4. Test the sweet potatoes – they are ‘done’ when they are tender but are not mushy. If they’re not done, turn the heat to medium low and cover the pan for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are done.
5. When sweet potatoes are done (but not mushy), add the cooked chicken and the optional leftover cooked veggies.
6. Taste the curry… if it’s not strong enough to your taste, add a teaspoon more curry paste and mix in, keeping track of how much you add. You want to know in the future how much curry paste per can of coconut milk that you like.
7. Cook a few more minutes until the chicken is heated through and serve over rice, cauliflower ‘rice’, zucchini ’noodles’, or spaghetti squash ‘noodles’.

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