Connie’s notes
I’ve been to southern Thailand only once — Phuket, to be precise — and khua kling was not among the dishes I was able to try. I’ve got better exposure with northern Thai cuisine having taking a cooking class in Chiang Mai where I learned to make curry paste from scratch by grinding fresh herbs, spices and seasonings with a mortar and pestle.
It was tempting to use northern Thai curry in cooking this dish but I do know that curry in southern Thailand is not the same as curry up north. Southern Thai food is spicier. But we couldn’t even manage the “mildly spicy” food in Chiang Mai so it’s doubtful that we would be able to tolerate the heat of southern Thai dry curry had I cooked it the authentic way.
So, I modified. After all, the dry curry was going to be our dinner and what’s the point of cooking an authentic southern Thai dry curry if we wouldn’t be able to eat it? The curry paste used here is simply a mixture of coconut cream, store bought curry powder and chili flakes. Not exactly authentic southern Thai curry but, I tell you, the result is beautiful.
Hand cut meat is traditional for cooking khua kling. Coarsely ground beef is used here but you may substitute pork or chicken without changing anything else in the recipe.
This is a spicy dish so it’s best to serve it with rice, egg or other side dishes. By itself, it can be overwhelming.
Ingredients
- 500 grams coarsely ground beef (1.1 pounds)
- 2 stalks lemongrass (lower portion only) thinly sliced after discarding outer layers
- 10 pairs kaffir lime leaves ribs removed and leaves thinly sliced
- 2 red chilies (preferably the prik chee fah variety) thinly sliced
- fish sauce
Curry paste
- ¼ cup coconut cream
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
Instructions
- Set a wok or frying pan on the stove over medium heat and spread the ground beef. Leave for half a minute. Stir to break up clumps.
- Add half of the kaffir lime leaves, all the lemongrass and one chili.
- Pour in a tablespoon of fish sauce.
- Cook, stirring, until the meat is no longer pink.
- Pour in the curry paste.
- Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring often.
- Before the mixture turns dry, taste and add more fish sauce as needed.
- Cook, stirring, until the mixture is dry.
- Transfer the dry curry to a serving plate or bowl, sprinkle in the remaining kaffir lime leaves and chili, and serve.
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