I tasted Thai food for the first time when I was in college. I remember having Thai iced tea and loving how sweet and refreshing it was. Then I had tom kha gai and thought how unusual (and delightful!) it was to be sipping spicy, tangy, coconut milk. And I finished the meal with a bowl of yellow curry, which was so similar in some ways to stews that I had growing up, but was really so different.
The similarities were in the ingredients – chicken, potatoes, and onions – that form the base of a lot of western-style stews. The thickness of the curry is also similar to many stews and the spiciness of yellow curry is more subdued than many other Thai curries. I think this is why some Thai people say that yellow curry is a good dish for “farang” (the Thai word for westerners) to start with.
Yellow curry is made in the same way that many other Thai curries are made. You start with thick coconut cream and heat it until the oil starts to separate from the milk. Then you add the curry paste and cook until it’s nice and aromatic. You cook the chicken in this curry paste, then add more coconut milk, water, and the vegetables, and adjust the seasonings.
You’re welcome to make your own curry paste, but the boyfriend and I have found that pre-made pastes generally work pretty well. Just be sure that you get a brand that’s made in Thailand – our current favorite is Mae Anong. With a good paste like this, you should be able to produce a respectable restaurant-quality bowl of yellow curry.
I imagine that many “farang” are introduced to Thai food with yellow curry like I was. And it’s a great place to start. It can open the doors to many other types of curries – some fragrant, some peanuty, some sour, all spicy – and from there to other combinations of flavors that Thai food is so famous for. So if you haven’t made Thai yellow curry at home before, I hope you give it a try!
Ingredients
- 1 14-ounce can of coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons yellow curry paste
- 1 large chicken breast
- 1-2 cups water
- 2 medium potatoes
- 1/2 of a large onion
- 1 14-ounce can of baby corn
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- Prepare your ingredients. Slice the onion, baby corn, and chicken into bite-sized pieces. Peel, cut, and parboil the potatoes for ~5 minutes. Set aside.
- Open the can of coconut milk and scoop the top thicker cream part into a pan. Heat this cream over medium heat until the oil just starts to separate from the milk. Then add the yellow curry paste and saute with the cream until it becomes fragrant.
- Add the chicken, coat in the curry paste, and cook until it's done. Then add the rest of the coconut milk and water and bring to a boil. Let cook until the consistency of the curry is what you prefer. You can use less water if you want a shorter cooking time.
- Add the potatoes, onions, and baby corn and cook until just done, but still firm. Adjust seasonings with fish sauce and sugar to taste.
- Garnish with thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves and red peppers. Serve with jasmine rice.
Penney July 10, 2012 at 11:38 am
I am a curry lover. Would you consider posting other yellow, red, and green curry recipes? Perhaps even adding to the posted recipes, variations that can be used. For example, a yellow curry recipe that includes shrimp and tofu as a variation of yellow curry. This would help in justifying the costs of the curry pastes that we have purchased for your recipes.
Rachel July 10, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Hi Penney, you can use the curry recipes that I’ve already posted as the basis for whichever variations you’d like. For example, if you want yellow curry with tofu, just substitute tofu for chicken in the recipe above. I do have some additional curry posts coming up, but really the basic recipe is the same!
CJay July 19, 2012 at 12:32 am
Seeing the pictures inspired me to try making this at home
but, i wish I had read the comments first, I too ended up with a really watery looking curry with the separated curry paste on the side. Boiling as we speak, hoping it will condense down and get some yellow color as the moment it’s a pale white closer to clear water 
Rene November 23, 2012 at 2:20 am
Hi. I was wondering if I could use green or red curry paste with this?
Rachel November 24, 2012 at 12:08 am
Hi Rene, there are recipes for red and green curries on the Recipe Page. They are similar, but generally have kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil added to make the flavor pop even more.
Tom January 6, 2013 at 6:02 am
Hello,
My newfound love of yellow curry w/ chicken has led me to this site. I honestly tried it on a total hangover in Vegas and I am now in love. I am going to learn to master this recipe so I can stop buying it all over town (San Jose, CA)!!! Any chance we could get the nutritional facts on this recipe out of curiosity?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Rachel January 7, 2013 at 6:38 am
Hi Tom, I don’t normally calculate nutritional info for my recipes, but it looks like there are some good programs online to do this for you (http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp for example). Best of luck!
Ashley January 16, 2013 at 3:34 am
Hi there.
I decided tonight that I wanted to make Thai Yellow Curry. Google brought me to your recipe and I have to be honest, at first I didn’t think that it would be anything great but boy was I wrong! It. was. DELICIOUS! I have never cooked Thai food before and this is a good recipe to follow because it is relatively simple. I did make a few changes though. I added half a habañero and some dried chilis (we like things spicy in this household) and I used coconut cream instead of coconut milk just because my grocery store only had that or light coconut milk and who wants light anything?
Thanks so much for helping me create a delicious dish for my family!
Kim February 10, 2013 at 2:25 am
hey Rachel!
I made your curry paste an hour ago and my family loved it. I was wondering if you would be making a video of this recipe in the future? I felt that my sauce evaporated to quickly and there wasnt enough to add over rice. maybe lll add more coconut milk?
Rachel February 10, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Hi Kim – I really like the idea of doing a video for yellow curry, thanks for the suggestion! And yes, the amounts of coconut milk and water really depend on your cooking time, so feel free to add more of one or both of them.
Rosh February 20, 2013 at 8:18 am
We luvz yello curry, potatoes in coconut milk is heavenly, and Chicago was our heaven… but we cant get it anywhere in Pune (India). So we haz to take da drastic step and cook it ourselves !!! It is better than red and green curries, at least in our opinion
) Thankoooooooo for this recipe dearling <3
Jimmy February 26, 2013 at 3:56 am
Thanks for the great recipe! Love it, very good. I took some others suggestions about the water and opted not to even use any. Just used coconut milk and it turn out wonderful. Also used sweet potatoes and added bell peppers and bamboo shoots, this made for some excellent flavor and color to the dish.
fay March 14, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Hi, I was wondering if you have another website as well? I can across this site http://www.thai-food-online.co.uk/thai-yellow-curry-recipe.asp#.UUH2W_q9Kc0 and they have the exact same picture as your yellow curry, so they may be taking your pictures. Just a heads up!
Rachel March 15, 2013 at 5:26 am
Thanks for catching that, Fay.
88Keys April 20, 2013 at 6:56 pm
At what point do you add the water? It’s not specified in the recipe.
Rachel April 21, 2013 at 5:08 pm
Hi 88Keys, you add the rest of the coconut milk and water together after the chicken has cooked in the curry paste/coconut cream mixture.
Mustafa May 7, 2013 at 10:40 am
Rachel, thanks for the wonderful recipe as I tried it and it turned out to be very nice. One thing I did a mistake was trying an Indonesian curry paste instead of the Thai so mine did not turn out yellow like the one I get in a Thai restaurant. But thanks again fir the wonderful recipe.