Thai yellow curry recipe. this is a spicy vegetarian as well as vegan Thai curry made with coconut milk and Thai herbs-spices.
Thai food is a family favorite. I have had Thai food in restaurants too, but I prefer freshly home cooked Thai food. In India, especially you do get a mish mash version of Thai and Chinese food at times.
We like the spicy hot Thai curries and at times I make them at home too. The use of coconut milk in these curries remind me much of the Goan and Mangalorean curries. I already have the recipe of Thai red curry and Thai green curry posted on the blog.
Tips for making Thai yellow curry
- When you make Thai food at home, make sure to use the authentic Thai herbs like – Galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass stalks and Thai basil. galangal, kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass stalks cannot be substituted if you want the authentic original Thai flavor and taste.
- If you are ready to compromise, then ginger and lemon zest can be added as substitutes for these. But the taste and flavors change considerably. I know It, since I have also made Thai curry many times with the substitutes.
- Thai basil also has a delicate aroma as compared to Italian basil which is more aromatic. You can use Italian basil instead of Thai basil. I have mentioned below the substitutes in the notes section of the recipe details.
- In this Thai yellow curry, the vegetables can be of your choice. I added carrots, baby corn, button mushrooms, red bell pepper and Thai brinjals.
I get a Thai kit as well as galangal in the super store near by. So when I go grocery shopping, I buy the Thai kit as well as galangal. I add the galangal to the morning tea. We love the flavor of galangal in the tea… And these Thai herbs are grown in India and are not imported. In my own terrace garden, I have lemongrass and Thai basil.
You need to make the Thai yellow curry paste for the curry. the color yellow comes from the addition of turmeric. Please use thick coconut milk for the curry and not thin one if you are using a homemade version. You can also use canned coconut milk. I added dabur’s coconut milk.
Few more popular curry recipes
Thai Yellow Curry
Ingredients
ingredients for thai yellow curry
- 1 small to medium carrots - chopped
- 8 to 10 baby corn - chopped
- 5 to 6 button mushrooms - chopped
- 1 small to medium red bell pepper - chopped (capsicum)
- 10 to 12 thai brinjals (baingan or eggplant)
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- ½ teaspoon organic sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped thai basil
- 1 or 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1.5 to 2 cups water or veg stock
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil or vegetable oil
- a few thai basil leaves for garnish
- salt as required
for the yellow curry paste
- 1 small onion or 1 to 2 shallots - chopped
- 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds or ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric or turmeric powder ( 1 teaspoon gives a dark yellow color, whereas you can go for ½ teaspoon which will give a light yellow color)
- 2 fresh thai red chillies or bird eyes chilies - chopped
- ½ inch galangal - chopped, substitute ginger if you don't have galangal
- 2 to 3 medium garlic cloves (lahsun) - roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon coconut milk
- 2 medium kaffir lime leaves - roughly chopped (substitute ½ teaspoon of lemon zest)
- 1 stalk of lemon grass - chopped (skip if not available)
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest - optional
Instructions
preparing thai yellow curry paste
- Add all the ingrdedients for the paste in a chutney grinder or a small blender.
- Blitz to make a smooth paste. I prefer to make a smooth paste so that the galangal and lemon grass bits and pieces don't come in the way while eating 🙂
- Keep the curry paste aside.
making thai yellow curry
- In a pot or pan, heat oil. add all of the yellow curry paste in oil and saute for 2 to 3 mins.
- Then add 1/2 cup coconut milk and saute for 2 to 3 mins.
- Then add the chopped veggies and stir well.
- Add 1.5 to 2 cups water or veg stock, sugar and salt. stir well and cover the pan.
- Simmer the veggies till they are almost cooked and tender.
- Then add the remaining 1/2 cup coconut milk.
- Stir and add soy sauce. cover and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes more.
- Lastly add the chopped basil leaves and cook for half or one minute more.
- You can garnish the curry with some thai basil leaves.
- Serve thai yellow curry with steamed jasmine rice or basmati rice.
Notes
- galangal: use ginger instead
- kaffir lime leaves: add lime leaves or zest of lemon instead
- thai chilies: substitute fresh red chilies or dry red chilies
- shallots: use small onions instead
- lemon grass: no substitute. At the most, you could just do away with the zest of lemon
- thai basil: use italian basil as a substitute.
I made this recipe as is with Ginger and lemon zest and it was delicious!
Thanks for the feedback. Nice to know.
If I’m using readymade Thai curry paste instead of making the paste myself, how many tablespoons of the paste would i have to use?
You can add about 3 tablespoons of ready thai curry paste.
My boyfriend and I absolutely loved this recipe!!! I had to make some substitutions such as Stevia instead of sugar (for health purposes), regular lime leaves for kaffir lime and jalapeños for Thai chili but the result was still amazing. Next time I will make sure I have all the right stuff. Thank you for such a wonderful recipe!!!
Thanks for the feedback. Glad to know. Next time do try with the authentic ingredients.