We had a Thai themed Potluck to celebrate a good friends birthday and the only Thai starter I has ever eaten was this one. So decided to cook this for the potluck.
As usual this may not be the authentic recipe but is a mish-mash of the different recipes I found online with some bit of improvisations according to my tastes.

Method

1. Take 500 gms of chicken breasts. Wash it and clean it and cut it into long triangular pieces and keep aside
2. Make a marinade by grinding together (I used my mixer gridner) 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp fish sauce, 1 tsp chilli sauce, 10 garlic flakes, 1 tsp brown sugar, 1 tsp soya sauce, 4 tsp coconut powder or coconut milk, 1 small marble sized tamarind piece, 2-3 tsp of peanut butter ( you can replace this with peanuts), 3 fresh red chillies thinly sliced, 3 leaves of lemon grass and 2-3 lemon leaves. You can replace lemon leaves with 2 tsp lemon juice. Adjust the salt and sugar according to your taste. Add some oil to this marinade. This marinade has a yummy peanut and lemon taste.
3. Marinte the chicken well and  leave this in the refrigerator overnight for the perfect satays.
4. Take 6 inch bamboo skewers and dip them in water for 30 mins. Take out the skewers and arrange the chicken 1 each on each skewer
5. Preheat the oven @ 220 degree Celsius. Grill the chicken and after 15 mins turn them on the skewer. You can brush some marinade on the chicken as you turn them over.
6. It takes about 40 mins to cook but then may depend on your oven. Keep an eye on the chicken to ensure it is not burnt. Remove from the oven when cooked and serve with peanut sauce.
7. You can also fry this on the tawa but it may not turn out as juicy as it is in the oven.

Peanut Sauce

1. Heat a pan and pour 1 tbsp of sesame seed oil in it. 
2. Add 5-6 flakes of finely chopped garlic to it.
3. When the garlic is slightly brown add 1 tbsp coarsely ground roasted peanut  to it. 
4. Add 3 tsp peanut butter, 100 ml of coconut milk, 1 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp chilli paste and lime juice, mix well and cook it till it reaches a boil. Adjust for salt and sugar. 

Have been experimenting with different salad dressings recently. Here is one I made today which was extremely tasty. The flavors linger on far after you have devoured the salad :)





Method

1. Cut baby tomatoes, onion, cucumber into thin slices. Shred iceburg lettuce leaves  and mix them all well. Add bean sprouts - all proportions according to your tastes and likes.
2. Now make a dressing in another bowl. For this take a mortar and pestle and grind 4 garlic pods and 2 chillies. Add this to the bowl. Add 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 tsp fish sauce, 2 tsp honey, juice of 1 lemon and salt. 
3. Mix them well and pour them on the salad. Serve with coarsely ground peanuts
4. I added some  some pepper and ground chilli flakes for additional taste.

We like Red thai curry - I used to generally cook it with chicken and vegetables. Last week I had bought some prawns and decided to cook prawns the Thai way..and it was so tasty...The flavor of coconut milk goes best with prawns and I think this dish tasted better than Thai curry with chicken or with vegetables. Here is my recipe for Thai Prawn curry.

Method 

1. Take 2 tsp oil in a pan. Add 1 large finely chopped onion, 1 tsp finely chopped ginger and saute till soft and the onions urn pinkish. Add 2 green chillies slit along the length and 3-4 blades of lemon grass and saute

2. Add 50 gms of  of red curry paste and cook for a minute.

3. Add 2 medium sized tomatoes finely chopped and saute till tomatoes are soft. Add 50 gms of coconut milk powder dissolved in 1 cup of water to the pan. Adjust the water according to your taste. Let this come to a boil and then let it again simmer for 5 mins.

4. Add 1 cup of deveined and deshelled prawns and cook for 5- 10 mins or till the prawns are cooked.

5. Last add 5-6 chopped coriander stalks and some finely chopped coriander leaves and cook for a minute.

Serve with rice.

Thai red curry comes very close to Konkani curries with predominant coconut flavour and hence both hubby and me end up ordering it a lot when we eat out. One day I came across Thai red curry paste and thought I will try this. The gravy tasted so good that I make it very regularly and have also planted lemon grass and basil at home so that I can use freshly cut lemon grass and basil leaves in the curry. Here is how I cook it.

Method

1.     Marinate 250 gms of boneless chicken cubes with salt and pepper powder and keep aside some time.

2.     In a saucepan, add 1 packet red thai curry paste (I use Real Thai Red Curry paste) and sauté on low flame

3.     Add 2 cups of thick coconut milk to the paste and let it reach a boil. You can extract fresh coconut milk but since it is cumbersome I use store bought coconut milk powder and mix it with water. Simmer the mixture for 5 mins

4.     Add 1tbsp soya sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, a pinch of sugar (brown sugar is preferable) and some lemon grass roughly chopped. Stir and simmer for 5 mins

5.     Add around 10 basil leaves and remove from heat and keep aside.

6.     In another non stick pan, add 2 tsp olive oil. When the oil is hot add the chicken cubes and sauté. Saute for 4-5 mins till the chicken cubes are no longer pink.

7.     Add 1 cup of bell pepper diced into cubes, ½ cup of carrot diced into cubes, 1 cup of zucchini  and 1 cup of broccoli cut into florets and sauté until the vegetables are done

8.     Add the sauce that we kept aside earlier to the pan and simmer for 5 mins.

9.     Add some coriander stalks roughly chopped at the end and remove from heat.