Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Cà Ri Gà)
This classic Vietnamese comfort food is sweet, savory, and delicious. It's perfect to batch ahead and pairs great with a sliced baguette.
Servings 5 servings
Calories 807kcal
Ingredients
Aromatics
- 2 shallots
- 12 cloves garlic 1 whole bulb
- 1 inch knob (6 g) ginger
Chicken Marinade
- 1 whole chicken about 3.5 lbs cut into 2-3 inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 ½ tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
Vietnamese Curry
- 2 potatoes peeled and diced into 1.5 inch pieces
- ½ lb taro peeled and diced into 1.5 inch pieces
- 2 carrots cut into 1 inch thick rounds
- 3 stalks lemongrass cut into 3 inch pieces and pounded
- 1 ½ tablespoons yellow curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon five spice powder
- 3 bay leaves
- 35 oz coconut water about 4 3/4 cups
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar or more to taste
- 1 yellow onion sliced into wedges
- 13.5 oz coconut milk about 1 2/3 cup
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
Serve
- French baguette sliced
- cilantro chopped
- green onion chopped
Instructions
- Pulverize aromatics. In a food processor, add the shallots, garlic, and ginger and pulverize until it finely chopped. Divide 1/2 for the marinade and 1/2 for the curry. Set aside.
- Marinate the chicken. Cut the chicken into 2-3 inch pieces. Place the chicken in a large mixing bowl and add 1/2 of the aromatics, salt, chicken powder, sugar, vegetable oil, paprika, and rice cooking wine. Mix all together and cover to marinate for at least 3-4 hours or preferably overnight.
- Pan fry the vegetables. In a large skillet, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, work in batches to lightly pan fry the potatoes, taro and carrot until lightly browned on each side. Set aside on a paper towel lined baking tray.
- Pan-fry the chicken. In a large skillet, heat about 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, work in batches to lightly fry the chicken about 30 seconds on each side until golden brown. Set aside.
- Saute the aromatics. In a large pot, add 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Then add the lemongrass and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the remaining 1/2 of the reserved aromatics toss to combine and cook until fragrant and golden brown.
- Add spices. Lower the heat to low and add the curry powder, turmeric powder, five-spice, and bay leaves. Mix to combine for 30 seconds.
- Add chicken and coconut water. Add back the chicken and toss to combine. Then add the coconut water, salt, chicken bouillon powder, and sugar. Cover the pot, increase the heat to medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Then reduce to medium-low heat and gently simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add milk, coconut milk, and vegetables. After 20 minutes, add the milk, coconut milk, potatoes, taro, carrots and onion. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce to taste. Season to taste with extra sugar, fish sauce, or salt. Remove the lemongrass and bay leaves.
- Serve. Garnish with cilantro and green onions and serve with a slice of French baguette. Enjoy!
Notes
- Marinate the chicken in advance. I recommend marinading the chicken for a minimum of 3 hours but preferably overnight so that the chicken has time to absorb all the flavors.
- Use fresh aromatics. Opt for fresh lemongrass, ginger, garlic and shallots for the maximum flavor.
- Cut the vegetables in large pieces. Since the potatoes, taro and carrots may fall apart easily when you slow cook, make sure too cut them in large pieces to prevent this.
- Pan fry the vegetables until golden on each side. Pan frying the vegetables will also prevent them from falling apart when slow cooked.
- Taste to adjust. Ultimately, the flavors may vary depending on the ingredients that you use. I recommend to taste and adjust with more salt, sugar, fish sauce etc based on your preferences.
- Serve. You can serve this Vietnamese chicken curry recipe with your choice of baguette, steamed rice or rice noodles.
- Better the next day. This ca ri ga recipe is even better the next day! Serving this the next day will give the aromatics and spices time to blend together for the best flavor.
- Storage Instructions: You can store this Vietnamese chicken curry in airtight jars or containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Reheat: to reheat, simply add the ca ri ga into a pot and heat covered until warm stirring periodically.
- Freeze: You can freeze this Vietnamese curry recipe in freezer-safe containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. I recommend separating the carrots, potatoes, and taro and freezing them in a separate container to prevent them from becoming too mushy. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
Nutrition
Calories: 807kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 2467mg | Potassium: 1959mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 4478IU | Vitamin C: 35mg | Calcium: 229mg | Iron: 7mg