Thai-Style Chicken Curry Variations by Bookseller

Li, as with all stewy things, you can play a lot here. For example, you could add some minced fresh ginger and/or garlic to your rub for the chicken. You could cut some of the fat by using chicken broth for half the amount of coconut milk (in that case, you'd probably want to thicken the sauce some at the end: Stir 1 teaspoon of cornstarch into 1-2 tablespoons of water, until it dissolves, and then stir this mixture -- known as a "slurry" -- into the sauce; bring the sauce to the boil, stirring all the while, and the cornstarch will thicken it). You could use shrimp or white fish (like cod or scrod) instead of chicken, or you could substitute firm tofu or pork loin. You could cut up eggplant or winter squash (like butternut or acorn) into 1" chunks, toss the chucnks with a small amount of oil and a little salt, and roast them. When they're tender, throw them into your curry, along with your other veggies. You could add some fruit, like pineapple (fresh or canned -- well drained) or even bananas or mango or papaya with or instead of your veggies. You could nudge the whole thing in the direction of Vietnam by adding chopped fresh mint and basil to the cilantro at the end. You could toss everything, right before serving, with a couple big handfuls of bean sprouts, for a really good crunch. If you like the idea of serving mango on the side, you could toss the cubes of mango with some fresh lime juice and a little salt and chili powder, for a serious kick; maybe throw in some chopped red onion as well.