20 Minute Panang Chicken Curry Recipe - Little Spice Jar (2024)
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A simple Panang chicken curry that you can throw together in under 20 minute! The perfect weeknight dinner recipe!
20-minute weeknight dinners are my love language!
And this Panang chicken curry hits all the high marks. Creamy, smooth, tangy yet sweet curry loaded with tender chicken, peppers, and Thai basil. Keep it simple and server it over a bowl of steaming rice and just add it to the weekly rotation because the crowds gonna go wild.
We’ve had nothing but rain here in our part of Houston lately, and come September, all I want is comfort food. Bring on the Texas-style chili, the Mexican chicken noodle soup, and now, my Panang chicken curry.
How to make Panang Chicken Curry:
Thai food is some of my favorite things to make because:
Today’s Panang chicken curry is loosely based off of the one from our favorite Thai restaurant in Houston. They keep it pretty straightforward (just meat and curry) but I like to add red bell pepper and a sliced shallot into the mix because the flavors work so well with the sweet and spicy, peanut-flavored curry.
I’ve been making Panang curry for years but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how they got it to have this deep, rich and tangy flavor. I tried everything! Lemon juice, lime juice, lemongrass but time after time, I couldn’t make it like theirs. Until now. The number one ingredient that gives Panang curry it’s classic tang? Tamarind paste. It’s the stuff we use when we’re making pad Thai, so I thought, huh, why not add a smidge to our Panang curry as well? And it did the trick. It gives the curry a nice and dark, slow-simmered, tangy flavor one that lime juice wasn’t providing.
What you need to make panang chicken curry in 20 minutes:
There are a variety of Panang curry pastes available on the market, the one I use it called Mae Ploy. Keep in mind that traditional Thai brands of curry paste will always stretch further than brands like Thai Kitchen which are readily available in mainstream grocery stores.
If you use a curry paste from an Asian supermarket, I suggest starting with 1-2 tablespoons of curry paste (2 if you can really handle spicy food.) Brands that are more readily available in most grocery stores seem to be less potent, so you’ll want to use 2-4 tablespoons of curry paste depending on your spice preference.
How to make Panang Chicken Curry at home:
You’ll notice we’re not using any oil in today’s Panang curry recipe. Grab your coconut milk, without shaking the can, skim a couple of tablespoons off the top and add that to your hot skillet or saute pan. This is the coconut cream; it’s loaded with oil so we’ll use it to cook our curry paste. Then add the curry paste and peanut butter and allow the flavors to wake up. Make sure it doesn’t burn though! Then we’ll add the chicken and mix it so that everything is coated well. Add the rest of the coconut milk along with the fish sauce, tamarind, sugar, veggies, and let it all just simmer until the chicken cooks through and the curry thickens, that’s it!
What do you serve with Panang Chicken Curry?
In the past, I’ve shared a Panang curry noodle bowl with you so you can certainly serve this over rice noodles or egg noodles. Steamed white or brown rice is my favorite though way to eat Panang curry though!
Hope you enjoy this quick and easy weeknight dinner recipe!
1 teaspoon tamarind paste concentrate (or more for more tang)
1 shallot, thinly sliced (or ½ red onion)
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
3 kefir lime leaves, optional
¼ cup basil leaves
Instructions
PASTE:Without shaking the can, skim off two tablespoons of the coconut cream and add it to a sauté pan set over medium-high heat. Add the Panang curry paste along with the peanut butter and cook for 1 minute. Add the chicken and stir to coat, cook for 1-2 minutes. If at any point the sauce begins to stick to the pan, add a couple tablespoons of water to deglaze. Stir in the remaining coconut milk, starting with 1 1/2 cans (adjust with more later if desired.) Add the kefir lime leaves, fish sauce, brown sugar, sliced onion, and red bell pepper.
SIMMER: Allow the curry to come to a simmer, lower the heat and let simmer for 2-3 minutes or until the chicken cooks through. Taste and adjust with additional coconut milk, sugar, tamarind, or fish sauce as desired. Turn off the heat and stir in the basil. Serve warm with rice or cooked rice noodles.
Notes
leftover coconut milk can be poured into an airtight container and frozen for up to 6 months.
Have you made this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below. You can also share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #LITTLESPICEJAR, I'd love to see what you made!
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In a large saucepan, add jar of paste and either half a can of coconut milk (250 mls approximately), or a can of chopped tomatoes. Simmer on low to medium heat until the mixture had slightly thickened. Add the chicken and continue to cook until meat is tender.
The main difference is that Panang Curry has a little less chilli and slightly more mellow flavour, and also has roasted peanuts mixed through (which we do with good old peanut butter). Meaning – if you can't find Panang Curry paste, just get Red instead.
Panang curry isn't traditionally an overly spicy curry dish, though spicy food lovers can easily up the heat with the addition of spicier chili peppers. Most recipes call for red bell peppers, though I often include either spicy Thai chilies, or bird's eye chilies to satisfy that zesty craving.
Panang curry is typically milder, sweeter, and richer, due to the addition of peanuts and the lower amount of chili used in the curry paste. Red curry, on the other hand, is often spicier and more aromatic, courtesy of a larger quantity of red chilies used to create the curry paste.
Use fresh ginger and garlic: Fresh ginger and garlic add a lot of flavour to curries. You can add them to the sauce while it's cooking. Add a touch of sweetness: Some store-bought curry sauces can be quite sour. Adding a touch of sweetness, such as a bit of honey or s.
Red curry is the most versatile. Red curry is also typically made with shrimp paste, garlic, and salt. Panang curry is very similar to red curry, but it is less spicy and has the addition of ground peanuts.
Panang curry is rich and creamy, spicy yet balanced, with underlying notes of peanut and coconut. I make my panang curry with lots of bell peppers and carrots, and optional tofu for extra protein. It's a perfectly satisfying weeknight meal for cold days.
Usually, the Panang curry also includes a bunch of various vegetables. While very similar to red curry, Penang is usually seasoned to be less spicy than red curry and has the added ingredient of peanuts that gives it a sweeter flavor.
In the case of panang, the paste starts out with many of the same components as a basic gaeng phet (red curry)—chiles, lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime zest, cilantro roots, garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, white pepper, coriander, and cumin seeds.
Typically, meats used are pork, beef or chicken, but it can be made with any kind of protein. The base flavour of panang is similar to a Thai red curry, but it has a heavier use of cumin seeds, coriander seeds. It's also thickened with peanuts (or another legume), and is always scented with makrut (kaffir) lime leaves.
The word “Panang” is from the ancient Khmer language that was adopted by the Thai. It means “cross” and mostly refers to sitting cross-legged on the floor. In the old-time, people would cross the chicken's legs and cook the chicken upright instead of open.
Panang (also spelled Penang and Phanaeng) curry is a mild Thai curry that gets its name from the Malaysian island of Penang. It is similar to Thai red curry but is richer and creamier, and typically uses crushed peanuts as a major part of the dish (I personally use cashews).
Of course, you can make your panang curry paste as spicy or sweet as you like. Shop-bought Panang curry pastes often don't include peanuts for allergy reasons, but peanuts are a key ingredient, so as long as you aren't intolerant, they must go in!
2) Stir fry your curry paste (medium low) in the oil until the colored oil releases from the paste and it becomes very fragrant and aromatic (adding a bit more coconut milk to the pan from time to time when it gets too dry) For a store bought paste, mix 1/2 cup coconut milk with the dry paste to loosen, add this to ...
The paste is mixed with coconut milk or water plus vegetables, meat or seafood, then served up on a bed of jasmine or sticky rice. You can also use Thai curry paste in warming soups and sizzling stir fries.
Indian style pastes team with diced tomatoes and stock and enriched with a dollop of plain thick yoghurt. They can also be cooked with coconut milk. Team Indonesian style rendang curry paste with coconut milk. Combine Thai red or green curry pastes with coconut milk and stock.
Because the spices are added raw, the paste needs to be fried in hot oil when it is used. The moisture stops the spices from burning until all the water has evaporated out and the oil separates. Once this happens, the liquid base and the main ingredients can be added, just like cooking a curry from scratch.
Introduction: My name is Lidia Grady, I am a thankful, fine, glamorous, lucky, lively, pleasant, shiny person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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