Thai curry is a simple and flavoursome meal that can be made easily using shop bought green or red Thai curry pastes. These pastes make getting an authentic Thai flavour much easier and save you time.
A Thai curry can contain any number of ingredients from a mix of different vegetables to tomatoes to a variety of meats or seafood.
A Thai curry usually has a liquid base made from coconut milk. As each Thai curry can differ so widely in its core ingredients it is easy to end up with a curry that is too watery.
Luckily there are many methods you can use to thick up your dish.
How to Thicken Thai Curry with Flour
Using cornflour or regular wheat flour is probably the most well-known way of thickening up a curry dish such as Thai curry.
If you add the flour straight to the curry then it won’t thicken. Instead, you’ll just have lumps of flour in the watery base.
To help the flour thicken the curry, it first needs to be stirred separately into a little water to make a floury paste that is smooth and pourable.
This mix can then be added to the curry, and it will enable it to thicken up smoothly once it is stirred through,
You will need approximately two teaspoons of flour for every one cup of curry that you are trying to thicken. If in doubt add it a little at a time until it gets to the thickness you desire.
How to Thicken Thai Curry in a Slow Cooker
Slow cookers are convenient and are great for allowing flavours to develop in fragrant dishes such as a Thai curry.
Sometimes though, slow cookers struggle to thicken up the curry and so you may need to add something to it to help it along.
Popular choices for thickening a slow cooked curry are the additions of either full fat yoghurt or double cream. These are thick in nature and will add a luxurious feel to your curry.
Alternatively, butter can be stirred in towards the end of the cooking process and this will also aid it in thickening.
How to Thicken Thai Curry Without Cornflour
Whilst cornflour or wheat flour is the most common way of thickening a Thai curry it is by no means the only option available.
Other options include:
- Double cream or full fat yoghurt
- Coconut cream or block
- Tomato puree or tomato paste
- Puree some of the vegetables
Does Coconut Milk Thicken Thai Curry?
Coconut milk varies in the percentage of coconut extract it contains. The higher the percentage coconut extract the more likely there is that it will help thicken your curry.
As well as coconut milk from a tin, you can also get a coconut block which can be grated into a dish or a coconut powder that can be made up into a coconut cream.
These can be a good way to add more coconut flavour without compromising the thickness of the dish.
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