Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry

Curry. Yum. Pineapple curry is my favorite thing to get at a Thai restaurant (as in, it's the only thing I get and I never branch out to try new things). I finally got brave and decided I wanted to try making some curry dishes at home. After a couple curry failures I decided I should give my old favorite a try. So I Googled and came across this recipe at Allrecipes.com. I read through the comments to see what variations others had tried and decided I wanted to make a few minor changes, so here is the original recipe, with comments as to my changes and suggestions. This recipe isn't exactly like the pineapple curry I get at Thai places - the sauce is a little thicker, and it tastes slightly different, but it's GOOD!

Reader Photo from Allrecipes.com.

Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice (make this on serving day, and if there will only be two of you eating - half this - 2 cups is wayyy too much!)
• 1 quart water
• 1/4 cup red curry paste (I got this at an ethnic grocery store - they have so many cool ingredients, usually more authentic than the grocery store, and their prices are often better, especially for spices - I also only used 2 TBS of curry paste. I like spice, but not in this dish because it overwhelms the sweet flavor of the pineapple)
• 2 cans (13.5 oz) coconut milk
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into strips
• 3 TBS fish sauce (at another reader's suggestion I only used 1 TBS)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
  
• 1 1/2 cups sliced bamboo shoots, drained (these come canned, if you're not familiar with them)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
  
• 1/2 green bell pepper, julienned
  
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 cup pineapple chunks, drained (I used almost twice this, I love pineapple! Also, you can reserve the pineapple juice and use it to sweeten instead of the sugar)

DIRECTIONS

1. [Only do this step now if you're making this and eating it on the same day, otherwise, wait to make the rice on serving day]. Bring rice and water to a boil in a pot. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 25 minutes.
   
2. In a bowl, whisk together curry paste and 1 can coconut milk*. Transfer to a wok (you definitely don't actually need a wok), and mix in remaining coconut milk, chicken, fish sauce, sugar and bamboo shoots. Bring to a boil, and cook 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear.
3. Mix the red pepper, green pepper, and onion in the wok. Continue cooking 10 minutes, until chicken is cooked and peppers are tender. Remove from heat, and stir in pineapple. Serve over cooked rice.

TO FREEZE

Cool and divide into labeled freezer bags. On serving day, thaw and reheat on stove until gently simmering and heated through (or you can microwave it!). Serve over jasmine rice. One thing that I didn't do, but might do next time, is to wait to add the pineapple until I'm heating it up on serving day, I think it might hold up better that way.

* At the suggestion of another reader, I instead sauteed the curry paste in the pan in a little bit of canola oil for a minute or so, then added the chicken and sauteed for a few more minutes. After that I proceeded as the recipe directs.

Next time I make this recipe I think I will thin the coconut milk a tiny bit with chicken broth. I'm used to the sauce being a bit thinner. Also now that I know this recipe is a good starting place, I'll play around with things like adding more curry paste or fish sauce to see how it turns out!

Find this recipe for Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry at Allrecipes.com. Also, check out the comments for more ideas and adaptations!