How to Make Panang Curry

Curry isn't a spice on its own. Like chili powder or poultry seasoning, it instead refers to a combination of spices that often comes premixed to make preparation easier. The easiest way to make a panang curry dish is, of course, to buy panang curry paste. If you can't find it, you can make your own from scratch.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Wok or large frying pan
• Food processor or mortar and pestle
• 2 tbsp. panang curry paste or ingredients to make your own
• 10 cloves garlic
• Five shallots
• 1 tsp. galangal
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1 tsp. lemongrass
• Five Thai chili peppers, dried
• 1 tsp. lemon peel
• 1 tsp. shrimp paste
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 lb. meat (chicken, beef, pork)
• One can (14 oz.) coconut milk
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 2 tbsp. shredded kafir lime leaves
• 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves
• White rice

Make Panang Curry Paste

1. Peel and roughly chop the garlic, shallots and galangal.

2. Rinse, dry and chop the cilantro. Include the stems.

3. Rinse and roughly chop the lemongrass.

4. Cut the dried chilies in half.

5. Combine the garlic, shallots, galangal, cilantro, lemongrass, chilies, lemon peel, shrimp paste, salt and pepper in a food processor or mortar.

6. Process or grind with the pestle until the mixture becomes a uniformly chunky paste.

Make the Panang Curry Dish

1. Slice the meat of your choice into strips or cubes.

2. Cook the meat in the vegetable oil until well browned and nearly cooked through.

3. Remove the meat from the pan.

4. Put 1/4 cup of coconut milk in the pan and bring it to a boil.

5. Add the 2 tbsp. of panang curry paste (store-bought or homemade) to the milk.

6. Return the meat to the pan and let it finish cooking.

7. Add another cup of coconut milk to the pan and stir.

8. Stir in the fish sauce and sugar.

9. Add the rest of the coconut milk. Let the sauce cook until it starts to thicken.

10. Add the lime leaves and basil.

11. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. This may involve increasing the amount of fish sauce or sugar, adding salt and pepper or mixing in more curry paste.

12. Serve with white rice.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're having trouble locating galangal root, try a store that sells herbs and herbal supplements.

• Look for shrimp paste in the Hispanic food aisle of your grocery store.

• Thai basil is not the same as the sweet basil used in Italian cooking. It has smaller leaves and tastes a bit like anise or licorice.

• While galangal root looks like ginger, the flavors are very different. Ginger does not make a good substitute.