A Family That Eats Together: Red Coconut Basil Curry with Chicken

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Here's her meal plan for this week.

We love a good curry and I especially love a quick and easy curry recipe. As I was researching recipes, so many had numerous complex ingredients, which is fine if I was cooking all day on a weekend, but this day I needed a curry recipe in a flash. So, I added just the bare minimum ingredients and used fire-roasted tomatoes to give the sauce an extra rich flavor. The result was so scrumptious, I don’t know if I will ever go back to a more complex recipe.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½ tablespoons minced ginger
• 1 ½ tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) light coconut milk
• 2 Thai chilis, finely minced (optional)
• fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup brown rice, ideally brown basmati rice

Directions

• Prepare the rice per the package instructions.
• In a large heavy bottom skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, sautéing them for 3-4 minutes or until they are soft and translucent. Add chilies, if using. Season with salt and pepper to your taste. Stir in the red coconut paste until it is well mixed in. Pour in the tomatoes and curry milk. Stir the sauce until it comes to a low simmer, then add the chicken and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is opaque. Stir in the basil leaves when you are ready to serve the curry.
• Plate the curry with rice. Serve immediately.