Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, get recipes & tips every week! But sometimes, you’ll find these magical, victorious recipes. I call them low-effort, high-reward recipes. These are the recipes we turn to when we’re tired and hungry. These recipes are for light days, healthy days. For regular days, and frantic days. This 20 Minute Coconut Lime Chicken Curry is one of those recipes. The chicken used is boneless which helps to ensure it is a low effort, high reward dish! I make it on those nights when even chopping an onion is too much work, when 30 minutes seem too long to spend in the kitchen.
A Taste of Thailand
A year ago at this time, I found myself in a small village outside the misty city of Chiang Mai. We were taking a cooking class, one that immersed us in the process of Thai cooking. At the market, we witnessed steel machines churn out fresh coconut milk, which locals carried home in knotted plastic bags. We selected the right kind of rice and chilies and then cooked one dish after another in the open air outside our teacher’s home. A rice field surrounded the eating area, and I could see nothing but green land and trees, smell nothing but fresh air with a hint of lemongrass and sweet tamarind. We practically inhaled the full course meal. We couldn’t believe we’d made it all with our own hands – the relentlessly spicy yet irresistible papaya salad, Tom Kha Gai almost literally bursting with flavor, and Pad Thai that revealed how Pad Thai should have tasted all along. As I mourned over my last bite of mango sticky rice, watching the sunset, I felt joy. Also, a liiittle stress because my then-8-month old was getting impatient. But mostly, it was pure joy.
Tips to make 20 Minute Coconut Lime Chicken Curry
Now that I’ve reveled in memories of Thailand, here are a couple things I learned relating to this 20 Minute Coconut Lime Chicken Curry: I learned that if the freshest of ingredients are used, we can make a curry that is incredibly quick and easy, yet flavorful and healthy. I included an optional step to marinate the chicken in baking soda prior to cooking it, the one I used in my Cashew Chicken recipe. It gives the chicken a silky, smooth texture. P.S. If you want another Pakistani-inspired coconut chicken curry, or are willing to work a little harder (as in, you’re willing to chop an onion), try my Coconut Chicken Curry with potatoes.
