This Tropical Thai Chicken Curry recipe is a mix of spicy curry and sweet pineapple and mango chunks for a delicious chicken dish your family will love!
Have I mentioned lately how much I adore mango? Or pineapple? Or Thai Food? It seems like it has been a few days so I figured I had better bring it up again, just to really drive my point home.
After my amazing and life-changing trip to my neighborhood “Oriental Supermarket” I am absurdly stocked up on awesome ingredients for some upcoming Asian and Indian dishes.
I wasn’t planning on writing a post about this Tropical Thai Chicken Curry, but after I started eating it I realized that it needed to be shared with all of you. This afterthought explains why these photos aren’t particularly awesome, or well-light, or in-focus, as I was hurrying to get them done so I could continue eating.
Anyway, you can just use your imagination and believe me when I tell you that it tastes good and looks good “in real life,” as they say.
You know that a Thai Pineapple Chicken Curry recipe would be delicious as would a Thai Mango Chicken Curry recipe. Well, you don’t have to settle for half a much goodness as this recipe you could call a Thai Pineapple Mango Chicken Curry recipe!
Ready to send your taste buds on an epic journey? Okay, let’s begin.
As always, start by prepping your ingredients.
Before anything else, get your rice going.
Then, cut up about a cup of fresh pineapple using your handy-dandy Pineapple Corer. Or, if it’s the middle of winter and/or you’re lazy like me, you can use the canned stuff.
Core a mango with your handy-dandy Mango Slicer, Splitter, and Corer and dice the mango into bite-sized pieces. Or, do it the old fashioned way by holding the mango upright so it is balancing on the end opposite the stem, then use a sharp knife to slice from top to bottom along one of the flat sides of the mango, pressing inward toward the pit to save as much flesh as possible. Repeat on the opposite side, then turn the mango and remove the flesh from the remaining two ends. Pick up one of the two larger pieces you cut and score it using your knife in a grid pattern, being careful not to cut through the skin. Use both hands to turn the piece of mango inside out to push all of the scored pieces up away from the skin. Use your knife to simply slice them off the skin. Repeat with remaining pieces.
Slice your chicken against the grain into the thinnest pieces you can manage.
Now, get out a wok or heavy-bottomed skillet and heat over medium-high. Pour in half a can of coconut milk and let it begin to foam as it heats. Add some red curry paste and stir to get it all worked in. Add in some fish sauce and palm sugar (brown sugar works nicely as a substitute), as well as a few whole lime leaves. I’m using wild lime leaves, but if you don’t have any just extract the juice from half a lime and set it aside for later. If you’re using lime juice, wait until you turn off the heat to add it in so it doesn’t turn bitter.
Add the rest of the can of coconut milk and some water and give it a good stir. Let it cook for a few minutes while you prepare some fresh basil. Simply stack a few basil leaves on top of one another, then roll them up tightly before slicing them lengthwise into ribbons. Set aside.
Add the chicken, pineapple, and mango to the curry and reduce heat to a gentle simmer (medium-low or low heat, just enough to keep the surface stirring but not at a boil). Let the curry cook for another five minutes or so until the chicken is cooked all the way through.
Turn off the heat, remove the lime leaves, then add the fresh basil leaves (and lime juice if using). Serve alongside lots of jasmine rice.
Here’s the Recipe!
Tropical Thai Chicken Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 14oz can of Coconut Milk, divided
- 2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Red Curry Paste
- 2 Tbsp. Fish Sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Palm Sugar - or brown sugar
- 4 Wild Lime Leaves - or juice from half a lime
- 1/2 c. water
- 1 Lb. Boneless - Skinless Chicken Breast, sliced thin
- 1 c. Fresh Pineapple - chunked
- 1 Fresh Mango - peeled and diced
- 1/3 c. Fresh Basil Leaves - sliced
Instructions
- Heat half a can of coconut milk in a wok or heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until foaming.
- Add curry paste and stir to combine.
- Add fish sauce, sugar, and lime leaves* and let cook for one minute.
- Add remaining coconut milk and water.
- Add chicken, pineapple, and mango to the curry and let cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook for five minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from heat.
- Remove wild lime leaves* and stir in the sliced basil.
- Serve with jasmine rice.
- *If you don’t have access to wild lime leaves, simply use the juice from one half of a fresh lime. Add it at the very end, after removing the curry from heat.
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I’ve been wishing for a way to buy or make the delicious pineapple chicken curry that I used to get from a local restaurant for years. This is it folks! Absolutely wonderful!
I do make a few changes for preferences/allergies. No mango, chicken stock in place of the water, and basil instead of lime leaves (I leave them in). It’s a versatile recipe.
Hi Jennie, thanks for the review and sharing your changes! – Linda
What is your favorite brand of red curry paste? We prefer a very mild spice level…
Hi Tess,
You can find the brand of curry paste I bought in the past, and the homemade recipe I use now in this post: https://thewanderlustkitchen.com/easy-homemade-red-curry-paste/
Make it yourself and make it with a very mild spice level that you prefer!
– Linda
Hi, this looks amazing! Going to try it soon. Do you think it would work with green curry paste?
Sure! I love green curry 🙂
This recipe is a study by itself, and then there is everything else! Makes a non-cook actually want to learn how to cook. Pics are amazing.Thanks for inspiration, Edward the regular Guy.