Thai Yellow Curry แกงกะหรี่ (gaeng garee)

Thai yellow curry is a classic Thai dish that's a staple in Thai restaurants overseas, and popular amongst Thais and foreigners alike. It's rich with coconut milk, full of aromatic spices, and it's a mildly-spiced curry I recommend for those with low heat tolerance, even kids. If you buy the curry paste ready-made, or make it in advance, it's an easy and quick weeknight meal.

Jump to the Yellow Curry Video Tutorial

Yellow Curry Ingredients

• Yellow curry paste, store bought or homemade using this recipe. For store bought, I like Maeploy brand, but Maesri and Aroy-D are also great choices. Note that Maesri labels their yellow curry paste as "Karee Curry Paste," and do NOT get the one labelled "yellow sour curry" as that's an entirely different dish.
• Bone-in chicken thighs. Chicken is the most common meat pairing for Thai yellow curry. Other proteins can absolutely be used, just remember to adjust the cooking time accordingly. Boneless chicken thighs will work also, but in that case use unsalted or low sodium chicken stock instead of water.
• Coconut milk. Not sure which is the best coconut milk to get? See my post here with everything you need to know about coconut milk including the best coconut milk to buy.
• Waxy potatoes such as new or red skin potatoes. Starchy potatoes such as russet will also taste great, but you have to be very careful not to overcook them as they disintegrate easily.
• Yellow or white onion
• Fish sauce
• Palm sugar or light brown sugar.
• Tamarind paste, store bought or homemade using this homemade tamarind paste recipe.
• Cherry tomatoes
• Fried shallots. Optional for garnish. You can buy them at Asian markets or make your own following these instructions.
• Jasmine rice for serving

How to Make Yellow Curry

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps for making yellow curry. When you're ready to cook, refer to the full written recipe below, and watch the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Reduce some of the coconut milk until thick and the coconut oil separates.
2. Add the curry paste and saute for 2-3 minutes until the oil starts to separate from the paste.
3. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
4. Add the remaining coconut milk, water and all seasonings. Simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Add potatoes and onion and simmer for another 15-20 minutes or until chicken is fork tender and the potatoes are fully cooked.
6. While the curry simmers, pierce the cherry tomatoes with a knife to prevent them from exploding in your mouth.
7. Turn off the heat and stir in the pierced tomatoes and let the residual heat of the cook the tomatoes for a few minutes.
8. Sprinkle with fried shallots, if desired. Serve with jasmine rice.

Recipe Tips

Here are important tips for success:

• Avoid using chicken breast. Dark meat chicken can be slow-braised until tender, and this gives the meat time to absorb the flavour of the curry. If you slow-braised white meat, it just turns dry.
• Piercing tomatoes prevents explosions. I don't like to use halved cherry tomatoes in this because they can disintegrate easily into the curry. But using whole cherry tomatoes can be a bit dangerous because if the tomatoes are heated, but not enough for the skin to break, they become a hot water balloon ready to burst in your mouth. Piercing them prior to cooking prevents this from happening.
• Make the curry a day ahead. As with many stews, yellow curry tastes better the next day after the flavours have had time to penetrate the potatoes and chicken more thoroughly. So this is a recipe that really benefits from an overnight rest. I would add the tomatoes the day-of if possible.
• Leftover curry sauce? Use it as a dip! Thai people often dip roti paratha (which you can buy frozen) in yellow curry sauce. So if you have some curry sauce left, save it for a quick appetizer. You can even use frozen Chinese scallion pancakes or toast to dip.

Storing Leftovers

Yellow curry keeps very well. It'll last at least a week in the fridge, and will taste even better the next day.

When reheating be careful not to overcook the potatoes and tomatoes. I find microwaving better for this, as the stove top takes longer to heat the inside through, making it more likely for the potatoes to be overcooked.

Frequently Asked Questions

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Print