Jeremy Pang’s Panang chicken curry
- Portion size: Serves 4
- Hands-on time 25 min. Simmering time 30-35 min
- Difficulty: easy
Chef Jeremy Pang’s spin on aromatic Panang chicken curry, a Thai-style red curry, uses juicy chicken legs and involves making a quick curry paste using toasted spices, coriander, lemongrass and dried red chillies. It’s finished with fish sauce and palm sugar – but you can use light soft brown sugar in a pinch. Serve with rice.
Jeremy says: “The word ‘panang’ means ‘crossed’ and comes from along the Cambodian-Thai border – it refers to the crossing of the bird’s legs to lock in the spice flavours. I’ve used leg joints to keep it simple yet succulent, while showcasing the silky curry sauce.”
Recipe taken from School of Wok: Simple Family Feasts by Jeremy Pang (Hamlyn £22) and tested by delicious.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs
- Vegetable oil to fry
- 3 lime leaves
- 300ml coconut milk
- 100ml chicken stock
- 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 2-3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp palm sugar or soft brown sugar
- 1 large red chilli, finely sliced
For the curry paste
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 10-15 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water for 10-15 minutes, then drained and finely chopped
- 4-5 thai shallots or 1 regular shallot, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 lime leaves, finely chopped
- 1 stick lemongrass, trimmed, bruised and finely chopped
- ½ thumb-size piece ginger or galangal, peeled and finely chopped
- Handful coriander roots or stalks, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp crispy shallots (optional)
Method
- For the curry paste, toast the coriander and cumin seeds and peppercorns in a dry pan over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Transfer to a pestle and mortar and add the rest of the paste ingredients, one at a time, pounding between each addition to create a smooth paste (you can also whizz them in a food processor with 1 tbsp water).
- Massage 2-3 tbsp of the curry paste into the chicken legs, reserving the rest for the sauce.
- Heat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the chicken legs for 5-6 minutes on each side until golden brown.
- Meanwhile, heat 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed wok or saucepan over a low heat, then add the remaining curry paste. Throw in the whole lime leaves and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until fragrant and deep red. Pour in 75ml of the coconut milk, stir and bring to the boil, then add another 75ml. Return to the boil, then add the remaining coconut milk along with the chicken stock. Bring to the boil once again, then add the potatoes and the browned chicken pieces. Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Turn the heat up and bring to a vigorous boil. Continue to cook for another 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced to a double cream consistency.
- Season the curry with the fish sauce and palm sugar, allowing the sugar to melt into the sauce, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Garnish with the sliced red chilli and serve.
Nutrition
- 582kcals Calories
- 40g (18g saturated) Fat
- 27g Protein
- 26g (6.7g sugars) Carbs
- 2.9g Fibre
- 2.9g Salt
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Reviews
Mine is yellow not red and I used the exact same ingredients.
Our food team advise that the difference in colour may be due to the dried chillies used – some will impart a more vibrant red colour to the oil. It will still taste delicious even if it’s yellow, though! Thanks for sharing your feedback on this recipe.
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