Usually I make curry pastes from scratch, but when I’m lazy, use the canned varieties. So far I’ve mostly used the Maesri Thai brand, most of which I’ve tried, and with one or two exceptions, have been very good. This time I tried one of Aroy-D’s, and the results were pretty good.

Ingredients:

• 5 Tbsp. curry paste
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 x 13.5 oz. cans coconut milk
• 2/3 lb. meat of your choice – I had a lamb chop which was aging (badly) in the freezer, so that’s what I used
• Vegetables of your choice
• 2 Tbsp. palm sugar (substitute: regular sugar)
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 6 Kaffir lime leaves (substitute: don’t use them)
• 2 red chili peppers, slices (substitute: or not)
• 1/4 C. fresh Thai basil leaves (or not)

Method:

Heat the oil to medium hot, then add the curry paste:

Stir for two or three minutes, until the paste is fragrant:

Add the coconut milk and the meat, and any long-cooking vegetables like carrots. Bring to the boil, and cook over a medium boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally:

Add the rest of the vegetables, and cook for another five minutes or until the vegetables are done to your taste.

But, you ask, how did it taste?

Kind of bland. A nice medium heat, but I ended up adding more sugar, fish sauce, and the juice of a lime, which made it much better.

Pretty yum!

-R