Gai Pad Ga Prao (Thai-style Stir-Fried Chicken and Basil)

One of my first experiences in the kitchen was assisting my mom in cooking this Thai dish

The original recipe includes basil (for obvious reasons), but since in the 90s finding basil in India was difficult unless you wanted to use tulsi leaves, we substituted this dish with the very obvious coriander (dhania/cilantro). This recipe is not for the light-heart , a.k.a, it is quite spicy. So when you make this, be sure to tweak it according to your preference


For this recipe, you will need :

1. 750 gm breast chicken
   
2. 4-5 bunches of coriander
   
3. 5-6 cloves of garlic
   
4. 10 green chilli
   
5. 3-4 red chilli
   
6. 5-6 cloves
   
7. 4 Tbsp of soy sauce
8. 2 tsp pepper
   
9. Salt to taste
10. pinch of sugar ( literally a pinch)
    

Directions :

Dice the chicken into approximately 1"x 1" x 1" cubes. You don't have to be as technical as that, this is just an estimation. I usually like to fry the chicken pieces before itself, that way I don't have to bother later if its cooked or not. To make this even simpler, take a grinder ( mixie like we fondly call it) , put in all the ingredients except the chicken (duh), soy sauce, salt, sugar and pepper, and grind into a paste. Don't make it a very watery paste, it should be thick enough to coat your chicken later on.

Heat oil in a pan, and then fry the coriander paste you just made. When you notice that oil is starting to separate from the paste, put in the chicken. Make sure you have coated the chicken completely with the paste. Pour in the soy sauce. Add salt and pepper. Add just a little bit of sugar. The caramelization of the sugar will bring a nice balance to your spices.

That's it your done. Eaten best with hot steaming rice and nothing else.

Yumm!!!

~Shreyasee ( Shreya / Titir)

P.S You can marinate chicken with lemon pepper if you'd like before just to enhance the taste. Not needed, just another thing you could do