Reddit reviews Maesri Thai red curry - 4 oz x 2 cans

The basic gist of it is:

Empty a can of curry paste (e.g. http://amzn.com/B000ETLVXC This stuff should be $1-$1.50 at an Asian grocery. There are all sorts of varieties.) into a saute pan over medium heat. Stir it around until it becomes fragrant, about 30s - 1min. Add a sliced onion. Stir for a few seconds. Add a can of coconut milk (13.5oz / 400mL) and stir well to incorporate all of the curry paste into the base.

At this point, lower the heat to a simmer and add your raw protein if it's chicken, pork, or beef. If you're using shrimp or mussels or something that cooks more quickly, hold off for a few mins.

Add whatever veggies you're going to add. Get creative... Literally anything will work. I like adding small cubes of acorn squash, for example.

Splash in some fish sauce for saltiness and umami, lower heat, and simmer until your protein and veggies are done, stirring occasionally. Adjust spiciness as you see fit. Once done, juice a lime into the curry (or do it per-serving when eating)

This is super basic... You can kick it up a notch by adding lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, thai basil, etc. But this will get you 90% of the way there for about $4 + cost of protein + cost of veggies, with enough to feed 3-4. Chock full of good coconut fat and only limited by your creativity. The asian market I go to has probably 10 different varieties of curry paste (they even come with preparation suggestions too)

edit: It'll be pretty saucy, so it's best to serve it over a substrate of some sort. Starch would be good here. Or, you could add broth to the curry to make it into a soup.

Delicious curry.

2 cans of coconut milk.

1 can of curry paste. I use either Thai Kitchen curry paste or Maesri Thai curry paste

3 frozen chicken breasts (or mushrooms if you're vegan)

3 potatoes cut into cubes

1 onion

Frozen peas

White rice or brown rice if you're not a shitlord or doing the low carb thing.

cut up onion, potatoes and chicken.

Onion first in large pot with a little bit of oil.

Then cook chicken in with the onion once it's almost done.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way add your potatoes, 1 can of coconut milk and the can/jar of curry paste. Use your empty coconut milk can and add about half a can of water to the mix. Mix it all up nice and tidy and bring to a boil. Put it down to a simmer and cook for about a half hour. Then add the coconut milk and continue to simmer for another 20 min or until the potatoes are nice and soft. Add a cup or 2 of frozen peas about 10 min before it's done.

Make your rice when you add the second can of coconut milk.

Either get a rice cooker or you can do it my favorite way.

Put as much rice as you'd like in a pot with a cover. I do like a cup or 2. Add enough water so that it is over the rice a half inch. Mix the rice and water up and then set to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, put a cover on it and turn it down to super low heat. Let it sit and cook for 20 min. Don't open the cover, don't stir it, don't even look at it to be sure. It' works every time.

Add the curry on top of rice and enjoy. :D

thai curry

I cannot recommend this enough. It is extremely cheap, easy, and delicious. All you have to do is mix this curry paste with coconut milk and bring it to a boil. Then add a cup and a half of stock (chicken, vegetable, whatever).

Then you add whatever you want to it: beef, chicken, fried tofu, peppers, onions, bamboo shoots... you get the idea. Bring it to a light boil for a while, until everything seems to be cooked. Serve over rice

The one mentioned in the recipe is vegan. Thai Kitchen red curry paste is what I see most often in stores near me and is also vegan. You can also make your own.

Maesri's green and red curry pastes are a staple of my diet!

Green curry

Red curry

What I'll do with regular coconut milk is let the can sit the same way for a few hours so that I know all the cream rises to the top.

I spoon just the cream off the top into my wok and heat that till it starts to thicken. Then I add my paste, cook that till it starts to smell, then add my veg and finally the rest of the coconut milk can.

The paste you use makes a difference too. I've tried a few, and always come back to Maesri

I use maesri red curry paste. It's definitely thai in origin but produces wonderful, flavorful coconut curry every time. They have a lot of other varieties too. I admit I don't know much about the differences in ingredients between thai and indian curries, though.

Edit: Ok I just read a bit and thai is pretty different as one might assume, so this is probably not useful info. But I'll leave the comment up in case you're interested in foraying into thai curry I guess!

Some varieties of canned curry paste use nothing but spices and water. You're looking for the little cans, like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Maesri-Thai-red-curry-cans/dp/B000ETLVXC

The ingredients on this one say "sugar", but the nutrition facts indicate there's a total of 12 ± 3 grams of sugar per can, which isn't so bad really. Keep in mind the can will flavor 4-8 servings of food (and is meant to go with coconut milk). See also:

http://www.rachelcooksthai.com/thai-test-kitchen-brand-curry-paste-best/