And it was all yellow…

We’re wellies deep into Autumn now, aren’t we?  I mean for a start, there hasn’t been a single dog walk in the past week where I haven’t trudged back soaked right through to my knickers (note to self: stop lusting after extra af fur coats and buy an unfashionable, dorky anorak instead…), and I keep waking up in total darkness every morning thinking that it’s 3am only to discover that – oh no! – it’s 7am and waaaay past time to get up.  I sound like I’m complaining, but actually, I love dark and dingy Autumn weather.  For a start, it’s an excuse to hole up at home with the central heating whacked right the way up, and also it’s finally the season to scoff plenty of roasts, pies, puddings and crumbles with custard.  Finally!  You see, pies and roasts tend to go on a bit of a hiatus over the summer in my house because they’re just a little bit too hot and heavy, and although they make a spectacular comeback when October rolls back around, I still can’t eat them everyday and I have to mix things up midweek with something a little lighter and a little bit spicier.  And this very, very easy Thai Yellow Curry really hits the spot.

Would you believe me if I told you that this recipe came back with me from Florida?  Yep, from Florida.  There’s a fab Thai restaurant that Sunny and I love hitting up when we’re out there.  It’s a tiny place and looks nothing special from the outside, but inside – as is the case with most unassuming restaurants – they serve up some of the tastiest food I’ve ever had.  This year, my father-in-law ordered a sizzling chicken platter that had everyone salivating over the table because it came in the most stunning yellow sauce that was unlike anything any of us had ever tasted.  After twenty minutes of stealing spoonful after spoonful and scraping the plate trying to suss out the ingredients, I had to ask the waiter what the sauce was and exactly what was in it because there was absolutely no way I was leaving Florida without a shopping list.  Turns out, it was a Thai Yellow Curry Sauce – which I’d never heard of before, and has a completely different flavour to its Red and Green counterparts – the ones you can easily buy pastes for in your local supermarket.  It’s much tastier and warmer, with that particular takeaway curry sauce flavour that you’d expect from a Chinese Curry or Singapore Noodle.  It’s sweetened ever so slightly with the addition of Palm Sugar (the only ingredient that’s a little bit trickier to come by, but you can pick up a jar online from Amazon) – and that adds a unique flavour by itself.  As soon as I got back home, I set to work trying to come up with a workable recipe for whipping up a Thai Yellow Curry from scratch, using (mostly) basic ingredients from my kitchen cupboard – and I finally came up with a winner.  This Easy Thai Yellow Curry is the perfect recipe for gloomy Autumn nights in; it’s not going to win any prizes for its looks, but it’s easy peasy to make and takes less than half an hour from wok to table. It’s tasty and warming, with plenty of texture from the added fresh greens and crunchy cashew nuts.  Plus, that bright yellow sauce is bound to put a smile on your face… even after a soggy dog walk. 😉

Easy Thai Yellow Curry

A little bit sweet, a little bit spicy, a little bit of what you fancy…

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 a white onion, sliced
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 4 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp chilli paste
• 250g chicken breast, diced
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp chilli flakes
• 1 lemon grass shoot, sliced finely
• 1 green pepper sliced
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 50g cashew nuts
• rice to serve

Method

1. Get your wok smoking hot (on a medium heat), then add the oil, turmeric, curry powder, ginger paste and chilli paste. Sweat the onions, then add the diced breast.
2. Once the chicken is cooked on the outside, pour in the coconut milk and stir until it takes on a creamy yellow colour. Stir in the palm sugar, salt and sliced lemon grass. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and leave everything to simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Just before serving, throw in the cashew nuts, green pepper and spring onions.
4. Serve up steaming hot on a bed of rice 🙂

Have a lovely week everyone! 💛