Curry Cure to Spice up your Immune System
Hearty and Healthy Chicken Butternut Yellow Curry Recipe with DIY Yellow Curry Paste
There are few dishes more soothing than a warming curry. Curry holds a cornucopia of wonderful anti bacterial and anti inflammatory ingredients making it a superb dish to consume in the cold and flu season to give your immune system a natural boost as well as help you recover from seasonal maladies. Curry paste or powder is packed with spices such as turmeric, ginger, coriander, garlic and chilli pepper, amongst other ingredients. This orchestra of spices each have powerful health benefits making them an ideal cure for many maladies and a healing, soothing meal to enjoy.
Let’s look at a few of the nutritional health benefits of this easy to make Thai Yellow Curry Paste before we go onto the recipe.
Turmeric - anti-inflammatory, improves memory, painkiller, fights free radicals, lowers risk of heart disease, fights cancer (1)
Ginger - relieves nausea, digestive aid, relieves asthma, liver protective, remedy for stomach ulcers, relieves muscle pain, improve cognitive function (2)
Chilli - promotes healthy heart function, increase cognitive function, aids digestive health, clears nasal congestions
Galangal - anti cancer, anti inflammatory, anti fungal, anti bacterial, high in antioxidants (3)
Lemongrass - aids in detoxification, boost immune system, skin tonic, soothes the nervous system, anti-microbial, antibacterial
Garlic - boosts immunity, anti-inflammatory, improves heart health, antibacterial
DIY Curry Paste
There are plenty of reasons why you should make your own curry paste instead of buying the ready to go packages in store. Making curry paste at home means you avoid the excess sodium of sometimes cheap table salts used in making commercial curry pastes as well as the preservatives that come along in many of the jarred versions. You can also use your curry paste as a flavour booster in many other dishes apart from the recipe we are sharing below. Once you get the hang of making your own curry paste you can explore with different aromatics according to your taste.
Step by Step Easy Thai Yellow Curry Paste Recipe
Ingredients:
7 Large Dried Red Chillies
2 Stalks Lemongrass
3 Slices Ginger
3 Slices Galangal
4 Garlic Cloves
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1tsp Ground Turmeric
3 Small Shallots
1 tsp Himalayan Salt
Steps:
Cut the dried chillies and place it in a blender, blend till fine
Heat the coriander seeds and cumin in a pan over medium heat till brown and remove
Grind the coriander seeds, cumin, turmeric with salt in a pestle and mortar until fine and remove and place in a plate on the side to add later
Chop the lemongrass, garlic, galangal, shallots until fine and place in pestle and mortar
Pound the lemongrass, garlic, galangal, shallots in pestle and mortar to release the juices and until mixed well
Now add the chillies, and the coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt to the mix and continue to pound and grind until the paste in well mixed and fine.
Store in a glass jar with lid in the fridge for up to 1 month.
The above recipe should give you enough curry paste for about 3-6 meals, depending on how many people you are cooking for. The usual ratio would be to use 1 tsp of curry per person, so a meal for 2 would require 2 tsp.
Hearty Chicken Butternut Curry with Barley
In this recipe we are going to use the Thai Yellow Curry Paste we prepared above to make a healthy and nutritious Chicken and Butternut Curry with Barley instead of rice. We chose Barley because of the superior nutritional content instead of the classic white jasmine rice. If you prefer rice, we recommend you make this recipe with brown rice. Whole grains are far superior in terms of nutritional value to white rice.
If you haven’t yet read our previous article on Ancient Grains, you can do so by clicking here.
You can substitute the chicken with chickpeas if you prefer a vegetarian version of this curry. In addition you can also add other vegetables to the mix, baby corn, courgette and mangetout all work well in this recipe.
Recipe (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
4 tsp Yellow Curry Paste
250 ml Coconut Milk
150 ml Coconut Oil
400 g Organic Chicken Breast
1/2 Medium sized butternut
15 Cherry tomatoes
Handful fresh coriander leaves
Drizzle olive oil
250g Barley
1 Lime
Steps
For the Barley:
Soak the Barley for 3 hours prior to cooking in water and a tablespoon of cider vinegar.This ensures that physic acids are removed. For more information on Phytic acids and the benefits of soaking grains prior to cooking, see our previous article.
Wash the barley and add to a pot with 1 litre of water and a tsp of salt
Cook the Barley till all liquid is absorbed
For the Curry:
Add 2 tsp of curry paste to a pot with 100 ml coconut oil and turn on the heat to medium
Slice the chicken breast in strips and add to the pot mixing it with the curry
Chop the butternut in little square blocks and add to the pot
Pour water over the ingredients until covered and place a lid on
Cook for approximately 25 minutes till the butternut starts getting soft, but not mushy
Add the cherry tomatoes, you can leave them whole or cut them in half
Let it cook for 5 more minutes
Add the second 2 tsp of curry paste and drizzle olive oil on top
Stir 15 seconds till the paste dissolves
Now add the coconut milk and stir well for another minute
Let it cook for another 10 - 15 minutes stirring occasionally
Turn down the heat and let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes before serving
Serve the curry with the barley on the side and add a few fresh coriander leaves to garnish
Serve with a lime wedge to squeeze
If you like your food really spicy you can always add some extra fresh chillies too.
We hope you enjoy the recipe.
Feel free to tell us what you think!
References
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/turmeric-health-benefits/
https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/ginger.html
Disclaimer
The information contained in this ARTICLE is for interest and educational purposes only, and is in no way a prescription or substitute for professional/medical help. We assume no responsibility for the way you choose to implement this information. Be sure to consult your medical healthcare provider(s) before making any health changes or decisions.