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Thai curry ( th, แกง, translit=kaeng, ) is a dish in
The first Thai dictionary from 1873 Common era, CE (2416 in the Thai lunar calendar, Thai Buddhist calendar) defines ''kaeng'' as a watery dish to be eaten with rice and utilizing shrimp paste, onions or shallots, chili pepper, chillies, and garlic as essential ingredients. Coconut milk is not included in this definition and many Thai curries, such as and , do not feature it. Curries in Lanna (northern Thai) cuisine, with only a few exceptions, do not use coconut milk due to coconut palms not growing well, if at all, in the climate of the Thai highlands. The Piquance, spiciness of Thai curries depends on the amount and kind of chilli used in the making of the paste. Even within one type of curry the spiciness can differ widely.
The word "curry" figures in the Thai language as ''"kari"'' ( th, กะหรี่), and refers to dishes using either an Indian-style curry powder, known as ''phong kari'' in Thailand, or to the dish called ''kaeng kari'', an Indian-influenced curry that is made with spices that are common to Indian dishes but less often used in these proportions in Thai cuisine. ''Kung phat phong kari'' (prawns fried with egg and curry powder) is an example of a dish using the Indian style curry powder.
Although is also defined as being of "watery" substance, the thickness of the sauce can vary considerably from broth-like to that of a thick stew, and it can even be a completely dry dish. Representatives of dry curries, dishes which are (stir-)fried with a curry paste, are and . and are representatives of the more broth-like curries. and resemble stews. (a steamed curry, steamed fish curry), (curry aspic from northern Thailand) and noodle dishes such as are also seen as Thai curry dishes as they all use curry pastes in their preparation.
The dish called is an exception to the rule that a should contain chillies, garlic, onions and shrimp paste. It is a clear Chinese style meat and/or vegetable broth with mixed vegetables and often also minced pork, tofu and Cellophane noodles, glass noodles. The name translates as "bland curry" but it is seen as being a ''tom'', a soup, and it is therefore also often called ''tom chuet''.
Curries are eaten in combination with rice, the long-grained jasmine rice in central Thailand, central and southern Thailand and glutinous rice, sticky rice in northern Thailand, northern and Isan, northeastern Thailand, and with noodles such as (fermented rice noodles). Certain curries can also be eaten with ''roti'', the Thai version of the Indian-style fried flatbread, flat bread from Malaysia called .
or , meaning "curry-on-rice", is a traditional type of fast food restaurant in Thailand which specialises in ready-made curries, and often several other dishes as well, served with rice. Their popularity in Bangkok as a place for a quick lunchtime meal is in decline.
File:Curry paste fried with coco cream.JPG, ''Phanaeng'' paste is fried together with coconut cream
File:Kaeng phak lueat.JPG, ''Kaeng phak lueat'', a northern Thai curry with ficus leaves
File:Thai style Otah.JPG, ''Ho mok pla'', steamed fish curry
File:Khua kling.JPG, ''Khua kling'', an extremely spicy, dry fried curry from southern Thailand
File:2014 1204 Khao Soi in Chiang Mai.jpg, ''Khao soi'', a curry noodle soup from northern Thailand
File:Kaeng kradang.jpg, ''Kaeng kradang'', a pork curry aspic
File:Tom jued tahoo.jpg, ''Kaeng chuet'', the curry that isn't curry, but actually a soup.
File:Kaeng tai pla34.JPG, ''Kaeng tai pla'', made from fermented fish entrails
File:Thai Seafood Curry.jpg, A seafood curry in the United States inspired by the flavors of Thai cuisine
File:แกงฮังเล ที่ หลู้ลำ.jpg, ''Kaeng hang le'', a northern Thai curry with Burmese influences
Vatcharin Bhumichitr: The Big Book of Thai Curries
Templeofthai.com: About Thai curry
highheelgourmet.com: Thai curry paste and ingredients that don't belong in them
{{Cuisine of Thailand Thai curries, Food paste
Thai cuisine
Thai cuisine ( th, อาหารไทย, , ) is the national cuisine of Thailand.
Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. Australian chef David Thompson, an expert on Thai ...
made from curry paste Indian curry pastes in a UK supermarket
Curry paste usually refers to a paste used as a cooking ingredient in the preparation of a curry. There are different varieties of curry paste depending from the region and also within the same cuisine:
*In ...
, coconut milk or water, meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit, and herbs. Curries
A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.
There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradi ...
in Thailand mainly differ from the Indian cuisine, curries in India in their use of ingredients such as herbs and aromatic leaves over a Masala (spice), mix of spices.
Definition
The first Thai dictionary from 1873 Common era, CE (2416 in the Thai lunar calendar, Thai Buddhist calendar) defines ''kaeng'' as a watery dish to be eaten with rice and utilizing shrimp paste, onions or shallots, chili pepper, chillies, and garlic as essential ingredients. Coconut milk is not included in this definition and many Thai curries, such as and , do not feature it. Curries in Lanna (northern Thai) cuisine, with only a few exceptions, do not use coconut milk due to coconut palms not growing well, if at all, in the climate of the Thai highlands. The Piquance, spiciness of Thai curries depends on the amount and kind of chilli used in the making of the paste. Even within one type of curry the spiciness can differ widely.
The word "curry" figures in the Thai language as ''"kari"'' ( th, กะหรี่), and refers to dishes using either an Indian-style curry powder, known as ''phong kari'' in Thailand, or to the dish called ''kaeng kari'', an Indian-influenced curry that is made with spices that are common to Indian dishes but less often used in these proportions in Thai cuisine. ''Kung phat phong kari'' (prawns fried with egg and curry powder) is an example of a dish using the Indian style curry powder.
Although is also defined as being of "watery" substance, the thickness of the sauce can vary considerably from broth-like to that of a thick stew, and it can even be a completely dry dish. Representatives of dry curries, dishes which are (stir-)fried with a curry paste, are and . and are representatives of the more broth-like curries. and resemble stews. (a steamed curry, steamed fish curry), (curry aspic from northern Thailand) and noodle dishes such as are also seen as Thai curry dishes as they all use curry pastes in their preparation.
The dish called is an exception to the rule that a should contain chillies, garlic, onions and shrimp paste. It is a clear Chinese style meat and/or vegetable broth with mixed vegetables and often also minced pork, tofu and Cellophane noodles, glass noodles. The name translates as "bland curry" but it is seen as being a ''tom'', a soup, and it is therefore also often called ''tom chuet''.
Curries are eaten in combination with rice, the long-grained jasmine rice in central Thailand, central and southern Thailand and glutinous rice, sticky rice in northern Thailand, northern and Isan, northeastern Thailand, and with noodles such as (fermented rice noodles). Certain curries can also be eaten with ''roti'', the Thai version of the Indian-style fried flatbread, flat bread from Malaysia called .
or , meaning "curry-on-rice", is a traditional type of fast food restaurant in Thailand which specialises in ready-made curries, and often several other dishes as well, served with rice. Their popularity in Bangkok as a place for a quick lunchtime meal is in decline.
Typical ingredients
Curry paste
Thai curries are always made with a curry paste. Common ingredients used in many Thai curry pastes are: *Shrimp paste *Chili pepper, Chillies; depending on the curry these can be dried or fresh, red or green *Onions or shallots *Garlic *Lemongrass *Galangal *Coriander (cilantro) root Depending on the type of curry, additional ingredients for the paste can include spices such as turmeric, Black pepper, pepper, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, and cumin, or other ingredients such as boiled fermented fish, and Boesenbergia rotunda, fingerroot. Ingredients are traditionally ground together with a mortar and pestle, though increasingly with an electric food processor. With many curries, the paste is first stir-fried in cooking oil before other components are added in to the dish. This allows certain flavours in the spices and other ingredients in the paste to develop that cannot be released at the lower temperature of boiling water. Both ''khrueang kaeng'' () and ''nam phrik kaeng'' () are used to describe "curry paste" in Thailand. The latter is sometimes even shortened to only ''phrik kaeng'' (). Thai curry pastes can be made at home from the bare ingredients, bought freshly made at markets in Thailand, or they can be had packaged at shops and supermarkets.Main ingredients
Most Thai curries are made with meat, fish or shellfish as their main ingredient. Vegetables and fruit, but also certain tree leaves such as from the ''Acacia pennata'' (''cha-om'') and the ''Ficus virens'' (''phak lueat''), and flowers such as those of the ''Sesbania grandiflora'' (''dok khae'') and banana (''hua pli''), can be added. Curries that contain mainly vegetables are, for example, ''kaeng liang'' (mixed vegetables) and ''kaeng nomai'' (bamboo shoots). Ingredients were dictated by regional and seasonal availability: both Domestic pigs, pork and chicken (possibly first domesticated from wild Gallus gallus, jungle fowl in what is now Thailand) are easily available, and so are many varieties of fish, and shellfish, both fresh water species from the many rivers, lakes and rice paddies, as well as salt water species from the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Other traditional ingredients in Thai curries include frogs, snakes, snails, bird, wild birds and Game (food), game such as Sambar (deer), Sambar deer and wild boar. Commonly used vegetables in curries are Thai eggplant (''makhuea pro''), Vigna unguiculata subsp. sesquipedalis, yardlong beans (''thua fak yao''), and different types of Squash (plant), squash and pumpkins (''fak'').Additional ingredients
Fresh kaffir lime leaves (''bai makrut''), fingerroot (''krachai''), or fresh herbs such as Thai basil (''horapa'') are often added to Thai curries. Kaffir lime leaves and ''krachai'' are often cooked along with the other ingredients but fresh herbs such as Thai basil are nearly always added at the last moment to preserve the full taste and serve as a contrasting note to the flavours of a curry. Fish sauce is not only used when cooking the curry as a flavouring and for its salty taste, but it is usually also available at the table as a condiment, mixed together with sliced green bird's-eye chillies for those that prefer their curries more salty and spicy. Sugar (traditionally palm sugar) is used with curries that need to be sweetened. Besides lime juice, tamarind juice can also see use in sour curries as the souring agent such as in ''kaeng som''. To achieve the most fragrance from the ingredients in a curry paste, the curry paste is often first fried together with vegetable oil or coconut oil that has separated from the coconut cream, before adding in the other ingredients.Popular Thai curries
*Yellow curry, (, it is known as "yellow curry" in the West) *, a curry of northern Thai cuisine *green curry, (, it is known as "green curry" in the West) * (, in addition to the curry paste, it uses whatever is available in nature) *red curry, (, it is known as "red curry" in the West) * (, every region has its own variety) * (; the name is supposedly derived from "mosalman", an Archaism, archaic word for "Muslim") *''Kaeng Ranjuan'' (a leftover food with spicy, sour, sweet, and salty beef curry seasoned with no more than fermented shrimp paste chili sauce.) * (a Burmese cuisine, Burmese-influenced curry noodle soup from northern Thailand) * (the name possibly refers to the Malaysian island state of Penang; this is a creamy and generally mild curry) * (, this Thai curry actually does not contain ginger)Gallery
See also
* List of Thai dishes#Curries, Curries in List of Thai dishes'' * ''Kroeung'' * ''Gulai''Sources and references
Further reading
Vatcharin Bhumichitr: The Big Book of Thai Curries
External links
Templeofthai.com: About Thai curry
highheelgourmet.com: Thai curry paste and ingredients that don't belong in them
{{Cuisine of Thailand Thai curries, Food paste