Sweet Potato Coconut Curry

With how simple, easy, and delicious curries are, they've become a weekly dinner in my household.  Even my picky younger sibling will try them.   Truth be told, this was the first time I made green curry this way, but I can promise you, it won't be my last.

Thai curries only require a few basic staple ingredients and some creativity to make something really great.  All you need is a curry paste, coconut milk, and at least one type of vegetable.  All other ingredients are quite optional but definitely help to elevate the flavors.  Other staple ingredients I keep around the kitchen for this quick meal include oyster sauce, peanut butter, garlic, and some sort of protein, but there are definitely infinite ways to tweak your ingredients and spark up new bold tastes.  If you read my post on thai Panang curry, you will notice that a lot of the ingredients, as well as techniques I used in both these curries are the same.

When I was living on the island, I made curries often because of how simple and fast they are.  Green thai curry was the one I made most frequently.  I liked to change up the veggies I added in it just to give some variety and see how different produce played with the flavor.  It wasn't until last week I decided to use sweet potatoes in this.... what a game changer. I don't think I will ever make this dish without sweet potatoes ever again.  However, I did forget to pick up some basil leaves when I stopped by the store, so they were left out of this recipe.  I think that adding basil leaves to this curry could really help elevate it to the next level, and will most likely be adding them in the next time I make this.


Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: ~540 per serving

Ingredients:

4 ounces green curry paste*

13.5 ounces coconut milk (1 can)

1.5 pounds chicken 

1/2 tbsp coconut oil

1 large sweet potato peeled and cubed (bite size)

1 small white onion diced

3 garlic cloves pressed (or minced)

1 small red bell pepper sliced

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (may sub fish sauce)

1/2 tbsp peanut butter

2 dried thai chili peppers (optional) 

Instructions:

1.  Using a pair of kitchen scissors, cut chicken into bite sized strips and set to the side to use later. Prep vegetables according to ingredients above. 

2. Add coconut oil to a medium saucepan and place over medium heat.  Once hot, add in diced onion and pressed garlic.  Sautee for one minute.

3. Add cubed sweet potato and sautee for 2 minutes.  Then add in sliced red bell pepper and sautee for another minute.

4. Remove all the vegetables from the pan and place in a bowl to use later.  Add green curry paste, peanut butter, and dried chilis to the pan.  Let spices heat up and become fragrant for about a minute.

5. Put your sauteed veggies back into the pan, along with the oyster sauce, coconut milk, and chicken.  Stir everything up really well, then cover and simmer curry on low for about 15 minutes or until chicken and sweet potatoes are cooked thoroughly.

6.  Serve over any rice of preference.

*I used Thai Kitchen's green curry paste from a jar.