Do you want a hearty meal that can make you healthy? Why not try curry? These can be turned into a flavorsome recipe that can fill up your senses like nothing else. Plus, they are Paleo friendly!
There are just days when you want something tasty and filling. Some Paleo recipes can take you back home, where mom is cooking dishes that can warm and fill up your belly like nothing else could. Some of these dishes are traditional food from other countries but have been embraced by many cultures. A fine example of a filling and a hearty traditional recipe is curry.
Curry is a traditional Indian food, that has been adopted by other countries near and far. This dish gives emphasis on the use of various spices and different cooking methods. Curry isn’t just for meat-lovers because there are curry recipes that cater to vegetarians and those who love fish. There are so many different varieties of curry’s to be found around the world, but we’ll focus on the Thai Green Curry. A flavorful and Paleo diet approved recipe that you can cook and enjoy.
- ½ lb (226 g) Chicken Breast – Cut into Bite-Size Chunks
- 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Green Curry Paste (Most curry pastes are Paleo-friendly, but it is ideal to check the ingredients first)
- 1 Cup (236.58 ml) Coconut Milk
- 1 Cup (131 g) Bamboo Shoots
- 3 Lime Leaves – Sliced
- 1 Pepper – Sliced
- 1/4 cup (48 g) Thai Basil Leaves
- 1 Teaspoon (5 ml) Fish Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml)) Palm Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) Coconut Pil (If unable to find Coconut Pil use a good Extra Virgin Olive Oil instead)
- Heat the pan over a medium heat and when hot add the coconut oil. Once the oil is hot enough add the green curry paste sauté for 3 minutes.
- Then to the pan add half of the coconut milk and stir for 2 minutes.
- Once the coconut milk is combined well with the curry paste, you can add the chunks of chicken breast and the sliced lime leaves. Leave everything then to cook for 10 minutes or until the chicken is almost ready.
- When you think that the chicken is almost ready, add the remaining coconut milk, palm sugar, and fish sauce and bring to the boil.
- As soon as the curry starts to boill, add the bamboo shoots. Leave everything to cook for another 5 minutes or until the shoots have softened.
- When the bamboo shoots are cooked, add the Thai basil leaves and stir thoroughly. Before then removing the pan from the heat.
- Voila! A culinary masterpiece is ready for you and your family to enjoy.
For this curry recipe, I used a curry paste instead of making my own. There are curry pastes available even in supermarkets and I’ve yet to find one that wasn’t Paleo friendly. But just be sure to check the ingredients on the label of the curry paste that you are going to purchase. When you think it’s not Paleo friendly then it won’t hurt to find an alternative. Curry pastes are convenient and can make cooking faster and easier.
What’s great about curry is you can add ingredients from a Paleo diet food list according to your taste! I often add a little lemongrass to this recipe and it’s so versatile you can experiment with it. Want some chilies? Then go ahead and throw some in and enjoy! You can even make this as soupy or as thick as you want. I like mine almost like a soup.
Another interesting thing about Thai curries is about how they are rated. Thai curries are rated from cool to hot. Here’s how each is rated:
Yellow Curry
This curry has a smooth sweet-spicy taste, with the blend of turmeric and curry powder crushed together with coriander, lemongrass, galangal, shrimp paste, cumin, dried red chilies, ginger, garlic, sea salt and shallots.
Masaman/ Massaman Curry
If you are not a fan of spicy foods, then this curry is a great way to get acquainted with curry. This is by far the sweetest curry and this paste is made using cardamom, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Red Curry
If you are into spicy foods, then this is the type of curry you’ll definitely love. The curry base for red curry is made from big red chilies crushed with garlic, cilantro root, coriander, cumin, lemongrass, ginger, fish paste, fresh turmeric, kaffir lime rind, sea salt and shallots and is usually added into coconut milk.
Green Curry
Much like red curry, green curry paste uses chilies as its base. The green curry paste is a mixture of fresh green chilies, lemongrass, coriander root, shallots, garlic, kaffir lime rind, sea salt, and shrimp paste. This is the most popular curry in Thailand and sometimes regarded as the hottest.
Indeed, Thai curry is a flexible recipe that you can make according to your taste and you can use any ingredients you like as long as they appear on your Paleo food list. Though some of these curries are regarded for their hotness, most rely on taste and fragrance. This separates the Thai curry from the hotter typical Indian curry (not that there is such a thing!) that you have enjoyed. So enjoy experimenting with this Paleo friendly recipe and surprise your family and friends with this delightful meal!