I’ve been a fan of curry pastes for a long time, as well as a fan of buying ingredients in bulk for cost savings.
I don’t just buy curry pastes in bulk. Potatoes, too, as well as chicken thighs when there’s a big sale.
Somehow, and I don’t know how, I alighted on the idea to combine all three of these things. It may have started with pan-fried potatoes, or maybe with oven baked chicken thighs (skin on, bone in). It may have its genesis in yellow curry fried rice, where I first learned that the (Thai) curry paste works incredibly well as a seasoning.
Before I go any further, I need to mention that this dish goes really well with at least tzatziki, and probably zhug as well.
Yellow curry paste!
Irregardless of how it happened, I then used yellow curry paste (the mildest of the pastes) as a seasoning for pan fried potatoes. All of this is being done in a cast-iron skillet, of course.
Finally, I decided that the best of all worlds is to put the chicken thighs on top of the potatoes, and maybe a few other vegetables and then bake to allow the juices and fat to seep into the potatoes, mingling the flavors.
The problem with chicken thighs is they take a long time to cook at a high temperature. It’s not so much a problem as something you need to be aware of going into the cooking process.
(Continued after the jump)
On the upside, they taste delicious, the skin becomes crispy and seasoned and the meat will be tender.
Finally, you don’t have to use curry paste as your seasoning. You could instead use salt, lemon pepper, garlic salt, garlic pepper, soy sauce or anything else that is salty enough. The point is for the chicken fat to seep into the potatoes and help flavor them.
Finally, you should consider making some Tzatziki and serving it with the dish. It cuts through the salt and the interplay between the citric acid and the curry paste is delicious.
Recipes for both are attached below, as well as on your own pages.
Recipe for yellow curry chicken thighs
Recipe for Wheeler’s Dill-icious Tzatziki
Fire up your oven and get to baking!
Leftover yellow curry chicken on the left, brown rice on the right, potatoes in the back and tzatziki in the front.
Ingredients
Marinade
½ cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup lemon juice
Everything else
6 chicken thighs
5-8 medium potatoes
2-3 green chiles, chopped into ½- to ¼-inch pieces
5 ounces yellow curry paste
Optional: 2-3 carrots, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
Directions
1. At least an hour before you start cooking, marinate the chicken in the mixture of vinegar, soy sauce and lemon juice.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
3. In a large pot, boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes, until tender enough to put a fork in.
4. While the potatoes are boiling, remove the chicken thighs to a bowl. One by one, rub them down on both sides with the curry paste.
5. Chop the green chiles into ¼-inch pieces and reserve.
6. Drain the potatoes and either cool in cold water briefly, or allow to cool until safe to handle.
7. Once the potatoes have cooled enough, cut them into ¼-inch cubes.
8. In a large pan, heat the oil on high heat. When the oil is hot, add an ounce of the yellow curry paste, mix it around, then add the cubed potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, turning occasionally, until the potatoes are lightly browned. Remove to a medium bowl.
9. In the same pan, add a little more oil, then add the chicken thighs for 2-3 minutes, flip once and cook for another 2-3 minutes, then remove to a medium bowl.
10. Put the cooked potatoes into the bottom of a large oven-safe pan or casserole dish and mix in the chopped green chiles. Place the chicken thighs, skin up, in the casserole dish. Cover and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
11. Uncover and continue to bake for another 10 minutes, or until the thigh juices run clear when poked with a fork.
12. Remove from the oven, allow to cool briefly and serve with tzatziki.
The Tzatziki is ready to eat.
Dill piles up in a container of yogurt being used to mix the Tzatziki.
Zhug, after the cilantro and jalapenos and citrus and salt have been blended together. Ready for some fiery consumption.