Thai Red Curry with Chicken

In households all around the world, a particular scene is growing familiar- you get home from work, the house is a mess, the kids are complaining of hunger, but you don't want to order a pizza because you're trying to set a good healthy eating example and you're trying to watch your weight yourself... I know I've been there! Next time, please consider a curry; when we are talking mid-week cooking, a curry from scratch can seem daunting but let me tell you its not! With a little preparation once every few months, you can have a beautiful, home made curry on the dinner table in as little as 25 minutes.

It's hard to make a curry look pretty, but what it lacks in beauty it makes up for in flavour

I fry the chicken in batches to achieve good caramelisation. This will add depth of flavour to your curry in the end

A curry is truly a versatile dish because you can really customise it to suit personal taste or whatever you have in the fridge. Here I've used chicken and baby eggplant but the possibilities are endless: prawns, pork, beef, fish would all be lovely and any veg you throw in will absorb the fragrance of that curry paste. Just please don't tell my mum! She would NOT be happy with people adding in non-Thai vegetables willy nilly. #sorrymum

I also serve mine with cauliflower rice to cut down on calories but if it's the weekend or we have friends over, you know I'm carbing it up with real rice!

“This dish is best made with a homemade red curry paste. Every couple of months, I make a big batch which will yield enough to make about 6 curries. I portion out and freeze them in little containers where they defrost and fry up beautifully. I'm not living in fairy land though, and I know people will want a shortcut so here it is- Maesri Red Curry Paste. The one in the tin. Its pretty good but quite spicy so if you can't handle the heat better to make your own and adjust for your taste.”

Red Curry with Chicken an original recipe by Kimberley Kells

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 3 adults or 2 adults 2 kids with rice

• 2 Tablespoons Red Curry Paste (follow link for recipe)

• 500g Chicken Thigh, diced

• 2 Baby Eggplants, roughly chopped

• 400ml Coconut Milk

• 3 Kaffir lime leaves, shredded

• 2 tablespoons Fish sauce

• 2 tablespoons Palm sugar

• 1 lime, juiced (2 if not juicy)

Step 1- In a wok or large pot, fry the chicken in batches until golden brown. I find that chicken thigh has a lot of fat naturally so I let that fat render and I don't need to add any oil. Remove and set aside.

Step 2- Leaving the chicken fat in the wok, fry the curry paste until fragrant and everyone in the house is coughing from the chilli. Should be 2-3 minutes.

Step 3- Stir in the coconut milk and add the vegetables according to cooking time. The baby eggplants take about 15 min to cook. Cover with a lid and simmer until the vegetables are tender.

Step 4- Add in the chicken and any resting juices as well as the fish sauce, palm sugar, lime. Taste and adjust to achieve balance. Top with the shredded kaffir lime leaves.