Thai Red Curry with Chicken and Squash

• porsi: 4

Bahan-bahan

2 cups kabocha squash

1 ½ cup coconut milk,

4-6 tablespoon red curry paste

1 lb chicken thigh

1 ½ cup coconut milk,

1 cup chicken stock,

2 tablespoon fish sauce,

2-3 tablespoon palm sugar

1 cup Thai basil,

A handful Julienned red pepper for some colour

**Red Curry Paste**

0.4 oz mild (large) dried chilies, see note 3

0.2 oz spicy (small) dried chilies, see note 3

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

¼ teaspoon white peppercorns

¼ cup chopped shallots

3 tablespoon chopped garlic

3 tablespoon chopped lemongrass

1 tablespoon chopped galangal

2 cilantro roots, or about 6 cilantro stems

1 teaspoon chopped kaffir lime zest, see note 4

1 teaspoon shrimp paste

Petunjuk

Wash the kabocha squash and slice off any part of the skin that has blemishes, otherwise the skin can be left on. Remove the seeds by scraping off with a spoon and cut into bite-sized cubes. If you have leftover squash, try using it in this stir-fry recipe!

Bring ½ cup of coconut milk to a boil, add curry paste and stir to break up lumps. Continue cooking and reducing over medium high heat until it is very thick and the coconut oil starts separating from the curry paste (if the paste is very thick but no oil is separating, don't worry, just proceed with the recipe).

If using chicken thigh, add the chicken and toss to mix with the paste; if using breasts, hold off for now and just proceed with the next step.

Add the remaining coconut milk and chicken stock. Season with 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce and 2 tablespoon of the palm sugar. Stir to mix and simmer for about 8 minutes.

Stir in the kabocha squash and simmer for about 5 minutes. If using chicken breast, add the chicken now and cook for another 2 minutes until both the chicken and the squash are done. If using chicken thighs, just keep it going until the squash is fully cooked, 6-8 minutes.

Remove from heat and adjust seasoning with the remaining fish sauce and palm sugar as needed. Stir in Thai basil and red pepper, if using. Serve immediately with jasmine rice.

Red Curry Paste

Cut chilies into chunks, remove the seeds, then grind in a coffee grinder until fine.

In a heavy-duty mortar and pestle, add lemongrass, galangal, cilantro roots, kaffir lime zest, white peppercorns and salt. Pound until fine.

Add ground chilies and pound to mix.

Add garlic and shallots, pound until fine.

Add shrimp paste, pound to mix.

Catatan

You can use more or less curry paste depending on your spice tolerance. If using a new curry paste brand, start with 4 tablespoons, unless you like things very spicy then you can add more.

If using chicken breast, cut into ½-inch strips and marinade in ½ tablespoon fish sauce for 15 mins.

Mild dried chilies are added for colour and flavour, while the spicy ones are added to customize the paste's spice level. Mild chilies tend to be large, and I use guajillo or puya peppers for this. Spicy chilies tend to be small, such as chile de arbol. If you can only find the small ones, make sure you remove all the seeds and white pith to remove some heat.

If you don't have kaffir lime zest, you can add 2-3 kaffir lime leaves to the curry, torn into chunks, about 3 minutes before the curry is done. Or substitute regular lime zest int he curry paste.