I tasted Thai food for the first time when I was in college. I remember having Thai iced tea and loving how sweet and refreshing it was. Then I had tom kha gai and thought how unusual (and delightful!) it was to be sipping a spicy, tangy, coconut milk based soup. And I finished the meal with a bowl of yellow curry with chicken, which was so similar in some ways to stews that I had growing up, but was really so different.
The similarities were in the ingredients - chicken, potatoes, and onions - that form the base of a lot of western-style stews. The thickness of the curry is also similar to many stews and the spiciness of yellow curry is more subdued than many other Thai curries. I think this is why some Thai people say that yellow curry with chicken is a good dish for "farang" (the Thai word for foreigners) to start with.
Yellow curry is made in the same way that many other Thai curries are made. You start with thick coconut cream and heat it until the oil starts to separate from the milk. Then you add the curry paste and cook until it's nice and aromatic. You cook the chicken in this curry paste, then add more coconut milk, water, and the vegetables, and adjust the seasonings.
You're welcome to make your own curry paste, but the boyfriend and I have found that pre-made pastes generally work pretty well. Just be sure that you get a brand that's made in Thailand (our current favorite is Mae Anong, but you can see the full curry paste taste comparison here!). With a good paste like this, you should be able to produce a respectable restaurant-quality bowl of yellow curry.
I imagine that many "farang" are introduced to Thai food with yellow curry like I was. And it's a great place to start. It can open the doors to many other types of curries - some fragrant, some peanuty, some sour, all spicy - and from there to other combinations of flavors that Thai food is so famous for. So if you haven't made Thai yellow curry with chicken at home before, I hope you give it a try!
For some other great Thai curries, check out these recipes:
- Yellow curry with fried tofu and vegetables
- Green curry with chicken and eggplant
- Green curry with fish, eggplant, and green peppercorns
- Red curry with pumpkin
- Red curry with pork belly and water spinach
- Panang curry with thinly-sliced beef
And lastly, here is a simple tutorial for how to make Thai curries that covers everything from the most basic to the more complex. Happy curry making!
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 14- ounce can of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons yellow curry paste
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1-2 cups water
- 2 medium potatoes
- ½ of a large onion
- 1 cup baby corn
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients. Slice the onion, baby corn, and chicken into bite-sized pieces. Peel, cut, and parboil the potatoes for ~5 minutes. Set aside.
- Open the can of coconut milk and scoop the top thicker cream part into a pan (approximately ½ cup). Heat this cream over medium heat until the oil just starts to separate from the milk. Then add the yellow curry paste and saute with the cream until it becomes fragrant.
- Add the chicken, coat in the curry paste, and cook until it's done. Then add the rest of the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil. Let cook until the consistency of the curry is what you prefer. You can use less water if you want a shorter cooking time.
- Add the potatoes, onions, and baby corn and cook until just done, but still firm. Adjust seasonings with fish sauce and sugar to taste. Some curry pastes will not need any sugar or fish sauce, and others will need more than the amounts specified here.
- Garnish with thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves and red peppers, if you like. Serve with jasmine rice.
Lisa
Rachel, I can't wait to try your yellow curry recipe. I have a couple questions though. Can I omit the fish sauce because I am vegan and is there a way this can be prepared in a crock pot due to my very busy schedule? Thanks in advance for such wonderful recipes.
Rachel
Hi Lisa, thanks for the comment! Depending on the brand of curry paste you use, you could certainly omit fish sauce. Otherwise, using salt is a good substitute. Also be sure to choose a curry paste that is vegan, as many are not. I haven't tried making curry in a crock pot before, although I have seen some recipes that suggest this. It wouldn't allow for the "breaking" of the coconut milk, which helps to develop the best flavor. Best of luck!
Rachel V
Hi Rachel! Thanks for sharing this, I loooove yellow curry and always wondered how to make it. It turned out just like I get at my favorite Thai restaurant. My husband loves it as well. This is now one of our favorite dishes to make for special dinners on Fridays and for guests. Thank you!
Melissa
I love Thai food and am so glad I found your site through a google search for yellow curry. I fixed it for my husbands birthday dinner and he loved it! We live in the middle of Kansas and it's a 2 hour drive to the closest Thai restaurant as well as an Asian grocery store. With that said, I had to make a few adjustments due to lack of ingredients, but it was still very good! Thank you!!
Tonya Bloch
Rachel... I've been spending about $23 for this at a restaurant. This recipe was soo eat. I added bell peppers and shrimp along w the chicken. It was better than what ibwas eating from the restaurant. Thank u soon much for sharing. I will be checking out ur other recipes too!!
Rachel
So glad I could save you some money, Tonya! 🙂
Rio
I'm so glad I found this! My grandmother used to make this for me all the time, but I sadly didn't get the chance to learn the recipe. I can't wait to try out this recipe!
David N. Terrazas
Rachel,
Thank you for this great recipe. It was simple and tasty, I added yellow bell peppers and it was even more colorful. I'm a newbie in the kitchen, you made this easy to follow!! Thanks again!
David.
Kimberly
I want to substitute carrots for the corn. Should I parboil the carrots with the potatoes since carrots are a root vegetable?
Rachel
Hi Kimberly, that's probably a good idea, depending on the size of your carrot slices.
Heidi
Sabidee Rachel! Was going to make this for the hubby and kiddos tonight but was wondering if it was possible to substitute yellow curry powder for the curry paste instead! If so do you know the conversions? Thanks so much! Can't wait to make this...Heidi : )
Rachel
Hi Heidi! I wouldn't recommend substituting curry powder. Yellow curry pastes have lots of herbs and spices that aren't present in the powder, so the taste would be quite different. Best of luck!
Olga
Hi Rachel! Your recipe made my day yesterday! It came out delicious! It was really the first time I cooked Thai, before I was cooking a lot of proper Indian dishes but not Thai. The curry paste makes things a lot easier I must say. I used clear chicken broth instead of water and I only used 3/4 of a cup. Came out just the way I like it when we eat out in a Thai places. Thank you so much for it! I will definitely check out more of your recipes!
Niki R
Hi Rachel! I've been really intimidated of making Thai Yellow Curry (it's one of my favorites!) but your recipe made me feel a lot more confident! I bought all the ingredients and tried it tonight - it was so good!! The only thing I would say is that the potatoes took a while to cook even after I parboiled them, so next time I'll just boil them for a bit longer. You rule! (:
Rachel
So glad you liked it, Niki!
Vanessa
Thank you! Rachel! I tried this recipe and love it. YC is one of my favorite Thai dishes and I had been trying recipes all over and it never came out right. This is the first time it came out tasting right and looking right. I also tried your pearl tea recipe that was awesome too! I will defiantly try your other recipes.
Rachel
Glad to hear it, Vanessa!
Victor
My fiance and I need to branch out and try cooking new dinners. We're going to try this one to get away from really standard American fare! Thanks for this recipe
Nina
Made this a few times now, really yummy and really easy, I also put lime juice, lemongrass and chilli and some ginger in a blender and add that to this receipe.
Rachel
Thanks all for posting your recipe modifications for others to see... These are a lot of good ideas!
Mary
I cooked this recipe for my family last night and everyone loved it! I did make a few changes to the recipe though. I used red pepper instead of baby carrot and I stir fried them with the onion shortly before adding it to the curry chicken mixture. I also made a double recipe and used one can of coconut cream then one can of coconut milk. Instead of water I used chicken broth and used probably a quarter cup sugar. I thinly sliced and fried shallots to use as a garnish. It was so delicious! I was wary of using fish sauce because it was very stinky and I've never even cooked thai before but I'm glad I used it because it really pulls the whole dish together. Thanks for this awesome recipe! We have plenty of leftovers and it was a fairly cheap meal to make thanks to the Asian market in my town!
Rachel
I always use Mae Ploy curry paste as it's one of the most popular brands in Thailand, where I've lived for more than a decade :), but Mae Anong is good too.
I agree with you how easy this dish is to make, though, and it's perfect for 'farang' taste. I'm used to the firey hot Thai curries now, and the hotter the better, but I still use the yellow curry powder now and again as I still love the subtle taste.
Nice website, btw.
Carol Gavura
Great recipe; thanks for providing it
Sarah
Hi Rachel,
I have made yellow curry before using the instructions from the packet. I'm definitely going to try yours though, i like the idea of adding baby corn. Do you know if the curry freezes well once made?
Thanks, Sarah
Rachel
Hi Sarah, curries generally freeze relatively well. In this recipe, the potatoes may become a little mushy, depending on how many times you reheat it after freezing. That said, the flavors should still be good!
amy
I have made this recipe twice and I just CANNOT get it right. It's so watery... the coconut milk I have doesn't have a lot of thickness... do you think that's the problem? Should I try a different coconut milk? The second time I tried I didn't add any water and it was still very watery.
Rachel
Hi Amy, I'd suggest using regular (not light) Chaokoh brand coconut milk.
Mustafa
Rachel, thanks for the wonderful recipe as I tried it and it turned out to be very nice. One thing I did a mistake was trying an Indonesian curry paste instead of the Thai so mine did not turn out yellow like the one I get in a Thai restaurant. But thanks again fir the wonderful recipe.
88Keys
At what point do you add the water? It's not specified in the recipe.
Rachel
Hi 88Keys, you add the rest of the coconut milk and water together after the chicken has cooked in the curry paste/coconut cream mixture.