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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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 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.
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.
Finally, if you want to go the store-bought route, but can't find canned panang curry paste, you can easily doctor up a can of store-bought red curry paste by pounding it in a mortar and pestle with one stalk of lemongrass (prepared following the recipe instructions below), along with the same quantity of peanuts, ...
It is healthy and delicious and packed full of flavor. Panang curries are from Thailand, where they use curry pastes that come in green or red, making this one of the easiest curry with chicken recipes out there. Thai food has a special place in my heart, and Thai Panang curry recipes are a comfort food like no other.
Panang curry has an additional ingredient which isn't used in Red or Green curry paste. It's ground peanuts and Panang is usually seasoned to be less spicy but much sweeter than the red curry. As for the green curry, translated directly from its Thai name, it's not just green curry.
People love green curry because of the gentle balance of heat, sweet, and acid from the chiles, lime, and fresh herbs. Green curry is great with chicken and shrimp because it offers a punch of seasoning to the protein. The long list of herbs also makes green curry one of the healthiest Thai cuisine dishes.
In general, Thai yellow curry is the mildest, Thai red curry is medium-hot and Thai green curry is spicy, although it can sometimes vary depending on what region of Thailand you are in.
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.
Top five ways to make a curry or chilli less spicy
Lemon, lime or vinegar. Adding a squeeze of citrus, a splash of vinegar or some salt may also work (for both coconut-based and other curries like this goat curry) as they will balance out the flavour.
Adding dairy is an ideal way to dull down the heat in hot spicy food. Try serving spicy curries with a dollop of plain yoghurt or serve that spicy soup with a hearty pour of cream or sour cream. Another method to counteract spiciness in a dish is to add a squeeze of acid such as lime or lemon juice, even vinegar.
Massaman has much more complex in flavour and includes ingredients like mace (outer covering of nutmeg), cinnamon, clove and cardamon. These additional ingredients make this dish towards Malaysian and Indian flavours. Panang Thai curry is basically Red Thai curry's sister, just a sweeter and milder version!
Panang curry paste is what you'll see in authentic panang curry recipes, but it is somewhat difficult to find in the U.S. A great substitute for panang curry is red curry, because the two taste quite similar.
Quick-cooking, lean cuts of beef such as sirloin or strip steak are a popular choice for panang, with the meat sliced thin and simmered briefly until cooked through with the curry paste and coconut milk.
1. Green Curry. This Green Curry is one of the best Thai curries if you like hot, spicy food. It's creamy, fiery, and delicious, deriving its heat from a generous amount of green chilies.
If you like your curry spicy, with a strong flavor and a hint of sweetness, then panang curry is the way to go. If you prefer a mildly spicy curry with sweet, savory, and sour notes, then massaman curry is a better choice. Massaman is perfect for you if you enjoy beef stews and comfort foods.
Website tasteatlas.com ranks "Phanaeng Curry" as number 1 as the best soup and stew in the world, from the ranking of traditional food dishes, which has gathered tens of thousands of menus from many countries around the world and selected the top 100 as "Best Stews and Curries in the World", which was conducted in ...
Panang curry is richer and sweeter than other Thai curries, mainly because of its high coconut cream content. It's also less spicy, which might make the curry seem even sweeter than others.
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