Thai red curry cooked with an Indian twist and a citrus zest...

I love Thai red curry with chicken but sometimes I add a few Indian spices for a comfort meal. Most such experiments have been good although I love Thai curries a lot in their authentic form too. Adding some whole spices along with the usual Red curry ingredients makes this chicken dish very very flavorful ...

Sometimes I hesitate in posting a recipe whose pictures are not great, which happens frequently when I make something for dinner. But the last chicken recipe herbed chicken with roasted cashew was tried by many friends within a couple of days of posting it despite poor picture quality and I am glad that I got great complements for that one.

That post has ensured that a recipe needs to be good and convincing and not the pictures. Although I believe that most of the healthier stuff should be presented in an appealing way so that people get inspired to cook and eat that dish. I am talking about the steamed and salad type recipes as well as stews and curries. If these look great on the blog it serves the purpose of motivating the people to eat healthy.

I assure you here, even though the pictures are not great the chicken was yummy and we enjoyed it with plain whole wheat kulcha and not rice. The true fusion way...

ingredients....

chicken 400 gm ( mixed pieces on bone )
kafir lime leaves 2 nos ( I used grapefruit leaves )red chilly powder 1 tsp ( optional )
lime juice 1-2 tsp ( optional )
coconut milk 1/2 cup ( i used from a carton )
oil 1 tbsp
salt to taste
tomato ketchup 1 tbsp

to make a paste ...

small red onions 5 nos .
thai bird chillies 3-4 nos.
galangal 1 inch piece
fresh turmeric root 1/2 inch piece 
lemon grass bulb 1 no.
green coriander stems only 2 tbsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp
coriander seeds 1 tsp
zest of two Indian limes

tempering spices ..

black peppercorns 1 tsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp
coriander seeds 1 tsp
black cardamom 1 no.
cinnamon stick 1 inch long

procedure ..

Make the paste of specified ingredients..

Heat oil in a wide thick base pan or kadai and throw in the tempering spices, wait till the spices splutter a bit then add the paste made in the first step and fry the mixture till a faint aroma starts emanating, no need to wait for the oil to separate .

Add salt and the chicken with the lime leaves and keep cooking on medium heat, stirring once in a while. Keep covered while cooking as the chicken needs to cook in this dryish mixture. Add little water to keep it moist while cooking.

Add the coconut milk and let it boil once. Add the tomato ketchup and adjust seasoning at this moment as the flavors may need some fine tuning before finishing the dish. Adding red chilly powder and lemon juice is optional and do it at this stage if you need. I added both red chilly powder and lemon juice and the result was awesome. Cook covered on very low heat for a couple of minutes and serve hot with rice, roti or anything you like.

Remove the lime leaves before serving.

Hot, tangy and a teeny bit sweet curry with the muted heat of the spices takes the usual red curry to the next level, the lemony aroma due to the zest and the leaves is unmistakable and blends so well with the coconut milk-masala gravy. Do not go by what the pictures look ...

I have already repeated the recipe for a gathering of guests and this has been liked by one and all ...It's great with rice and roti equally ...