Slow Baked Thai Chicken Stew

Having bought the ingredients for a Thai red curry, I decided I wanted to try something a little different from your ordinary Thai red curry. Not the there is anything wrong with traditional Thai red curry, on the contrary, its delicious, but just for a change I thought I'd see how it would fare in a slow cooked stew. The paste is homemade so you are able to control the quantity of oil used in the paste, and there are no additives or preservatives that might be found in shop bought jars. The stew is also made with a low fat coconut milk, thus reducing the calories further.

You could spend an age pounding the curry out with a pestle and mortar, but I've found my mini processor just as effective in making the paste and its ready in minutes. The paste can be frozen for up to 3 months, or kept in a air tight sterilized jar for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

I always harp on about slow cooking meat, especially meat on the bone. It makes the meat really flavorsome and succulent. This is another recipe where slow cooking is used to yield a meltingly good stew.

Ingredients

Thai Red Curry Paste

• 4-5 red chillis, deseeded and chopped
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger
• 1 thumb size piece of galangal
• 2 sticks of lemongrass
• zest of a lime, and juice of half the lime
• 10 black peppercorns
• 2 tsp of cumin seeds
• 2 tsp of coriander seeds
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 shallots
• Sunflower oil

Stew

• 3 tbsp of red curry paste
• 4-5 chicken thighs, skin and bones on.
• 1 400g can of coconut milk
• 4 tbps of chopped coriander
• 6-7 mushrooms, sliced
• 6-7 baby corns
• 6-7 mini courgettes, sliced lengthways
• Rice to serve

Method

1. To make the curry paste, add the chillis, shallots, garlic. lemongrass, galangal, and ginger to a mini processor and blitz until smooth.
2. Toast the pepper and seeds in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes (careful they don't burn)
3. Crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar or coffee grinder.
4. Add the crushed seeds to the blitzed chilli mixture along with the lime zest and juice
5. Slowly add the oil, pour until you are happy with the consistency (5 tbsp perhaps)
6. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees.
7. Heat oil in a casserole dish on a medium heat.
8. Brown the chicken thighs for a few minutes and then remove to a plate.
9. Add the curry paste to the casserole dish and cook out the aromatics for a couple of minutes.
10. Add the tin of coconut milk and bring to the boil.
11. Return the chicken to the curry sauce and cover with a lid
12. Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours.
13. Remove the lid and add the vegetables and return to the oven for another 30 minutes. (uncovered)
14. Serve with basmati rice and scatter generously with coriander.