Recipe: red curry chicken (or tofu or beef)

What a way to warm up on such a blustery no good shivery day! It's like the red curry chicken you've had at Thai restaurants, but lighter -- and using ingredients you're mostly likely to have on hand. That means using light coconut milk that makes the sauce a little thinner, but still packed with flavour.

You can really get creative with your protein and veggie choices (try tofu, bamboo shoots, fresh basil leaves and snow peas for variety), but here I used broccoli and eggplant, which I love using in curry because they sop up the gravy. Instead of using the pre-made red curry mix, I like to buy a jar of the paste (which can be found in the Asian section at most grocery stores) and add a can of coconut milk, which is a little lighter on the wallet too.



You will need:

1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground lemongrass
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce (or fish sauce)
3 dried chilies, crumbled (optional)
1/2 onion, sliced
1-2 chicken breasts, sliced
1 Japanese eggplant, sliced on diagonals
1 bunch broccoli heads, cut in chunks
1 red pepper, sliced
1 can light coconut milk
2 tbsp red curry paste
1/2 lime, juiced
a handful of chopped cilantro for garnish
Serve with:
2-4 cups cooked brown rice (depending on how much rice you like)

Directions:

 In a deep frying pan or wok on medium high heat, add oil, coriander, lemongrass, cumin, turmeric and stir. Throw in garlic and ginger and let it sit while you cut onions.

Add onions, brown sugar, soy sauce and chilies. Stir and let cook about 2 minutes.

Add chicken and saute another 3 minutes while you chop veggies.

Throw in veggies and saute another 3-5 minutes.

Stir in curry paste and pour coconut milk over mixture and stir until curry paste is dissolved. Cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes. Squeeze in lime juice.

Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro. Serves 4.