Panang Curry with Chicken and Vegetables

I still remember the first time I had curry. It was my senior year of college, and my roommates and I had started a tradition of family dinners.  Each night, one of us would be in charge of cooking dinner. 

One night, my roommate Catherine made curry with chicken, sweet potatoes, and rice, and it was one of the best family dinners we ever had.  I had never had coconut milk or curry paste before, and I was blown away with the deliciousness. 

However, it took several years before I was confident enough to try make curry on my own.

I was recently inspired to make this panang curry after eating excellent panang curry at a local Thai restaurant, finally ordering something other than my beloved pad thai.

My only complaint about the Thai restaurant version is that it has way more chicken than vegetables. (I'm kind of a weirdo about meat, and like to have even proportions of rice, vegetables, and chicken in each bite.) One benefit of making your own panang curry at home is that you can add as many veggies as you like! I added broccoli, red pepper, and jalapeño here.

You can use the regular red curry paste that you find in grocery stores if you like, but I really recommend getting the special panang curry paste for this recipe. You can find it at Asian grocery stores or on Amazon.

I hope you branch out of your normal dinner routine and give this recipe a try--I would love to hear what you think!

Panang Curry with Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients:
For the curry:
1/4 cup panang curry paste
2 cups coconut milk
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2 cups chicken broth
1-inch knob of ginger, peeled
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed, chopped
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
zest from one lime

For serving:
batsami or jasmine rice
fresh basil


Directions:
Add the curry paste to a large sauce pan over medium heat. Pour in a small amount of the coconut milk, and stir vigorously to combine with the curry paste. Once the curry paste has started to dissolve, add the rest of the coconut milk and continue stirring to remove lumps. Continue cooking the coconut milk and curry paste over medium-high heat for 10-12 minutes, then add the chicken.

Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes, and then add the broth, ginger, broccoli, red pepper, jalapeño, fish sauce, brown sugar, and lime zest. Bring to a  boil and cook until vegetables are just tender.

Remove ginger and serve in bowls over rice, garnished with basil.

Notes:

• Using 1/4 cup curry powder, this was spicy! (According to my wimpy palate) If you want less spice, add closer to 3 tablespoons of curry paste.
• Instead of lime zest, traditional panning curry uses kafir lime leaves. You can find these at an Asian grocery store.
• This recipe easily makes 6-8 servings. 

Adapted from Saveur.