If you’re someone who enjoys cooking Thai curries at home, panang curry is a wonderful one to have in your repertoire.
It’s rich, fragrant and slightly sweet from the coconut milk, with just enough spice to keep things interesting. The sauce is silky and deeply savoury, and the flavours feel comforting rather than fiery.
This chicken panang curry is one I come back to often because it manages to feel both special and very achievable at the same time.
The curry paste is made from scratch, which might sound a little ambitious at first, but it actually comes together very quickly in a food processor! Once that’s done, the rest of the dish is simply a matter of letting everything simmer gently until the chicken is tender and the sauce has developed its full flavour.
I particularly like using chicken legs here. They’re inexpensive, full of flavour and perfect for slow simmering in a curry sauce.
If you enjoy cooking chicken curries at home, you might also like my guide to 25 Easy Chicken Dinners for Busy Weeknights, which includes several other chicken dishes that are big on flavour but still straightforward to cook.
What Makes Panang Curry Different
Panang curry is a Thai curry that’s known for its rich, slightly thick coconut sauce and deep aromatic flavour.
Compared with something like Thai red curry, panang is usually:
• slightly thicker
• richer with coconut milk
• less soupy
• often a little sweeter
It also tends to rely heavily on aromatic spices such as cumin and coriander, along with ingredients like lemongrass, chillies and garlic.
The result is a curry that feels warm and comforting rather than aggressively spicy.
If you enjoy Thai flavours like this, you might also like Easy Thai Red Chicken Curry or Thai Fish Curry, which use similar ingredients but produce slightly lighter sauces.
Why Chicken Legs Work So Well in Curry
Chicken legs don’t always get the attention they deserve.
People often reach straight for chicken breasts or thighs, but legs are actually brilliant in dishes that simmer for a while.
They contain bone, skin and connective tissue, all of which contribute flavour to the sauce as they cook. The meat also becomes beautifully tender while the curry simmers.
It’s true that chicken legs don’t always look particularly glamorous while they’re cooking (this is very much a “trust the process” situation), but once the curry is finished the flavour is absolutely worth it.
They also happen to be one of the most affordable cuts of chicken, which makes them ideal for recipes like this.
If you enjoy cooking with chicken legs, you might also like One Pot Chicken, Chorizo and Butter Bean Stew, where the chicken slowly builds flavour in the sauce in a similar way.
The Curry Paste: Where the Flavour Starts
The heart of this recipe is the curry paste.
Making your own curry paste might sound complicated, but it’s actually very simple. Everything just goes into a food processor and is blended into a smooth paste.
The combination of spices and aromatics creates the distinctive flavour of panang curry.
In this recipe the paste includes:
• cumin seeds
• coriander
• black pepper
• onion
• garlic
• ginger
• lemongrass
• chillies
• fresh coriander
When the paste hits the hot oil in the pan it becomes incredibly fragrant. This is the moment when the kitchen starts to smell wonderful and you know the curry is going to be good.
Cooking the paste for a few minutes before adding the liquids allows the spices to release their oils and deepen in flavour.
The Sauce: Coconut Milk and Aromatics
Once the paste has cooked down slightly, the coconut milk goes in.
Coconut milk brings a gentle sweetness and richness to the curry, which balances the spices beautifully.
Chicken stock adds body to the sauce, while fish sauce and palm sugar round everything out with that classic Thai balance of salty and sweet.
The potatoes then simmer in the sauce alongside the chicken, soaking up all those flavours and becoming soft, comforting bites in the finished dish.
What to Serve with Chicken Panang Curry
This curry works beautifully served over a bowl of fluffy white rice, which soaks up all the sauce.
A sprinkle of chopped peanuts adds texture and a little nuttiness that complements the curry nicely.
If you want to turn it into more of a feast, you could add:
• steamed jasmine rice
• cucumber salad
• warm flatbreads
• a squeeze of lime
The curry itself is rich and flavourful, so it doesn’t need much alongside it.
More Chicken Curry Recipes to Try
If you enjoy this chicken panang curry, you might also like some of these other chicken curry recipes:
• Chicken Balti – a quick, bold curry with warming spices
• Chicken Katsu Curry – crispy chicken with a rich curry sauce
• Thai Red Chicken Curry – fragrant coconut curry with vegetables
Or browse the full collection of Chicken Recipes if you’re looking for more easy chicken dinners.
Chicken Panang Curry
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon black pepper corns
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 onion peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 inch piece of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 stick of lemongrass roughly chopped
- 2 red chillies
- 20 grams fresh coriander
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 chicken legs
- 4 white potatoes
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 500 ml chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons palm sugar
- 20 grams peanuts to serve
Instructions
- Start by making your curry paste. Put the cumin seeds, ground coriander, peppercorns, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, lemongrass and half of the fresh coriander into a food processor. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and blitz until smooth.
- Heat the remaining vegetable oil over a medium heat in a large heavy bottomed frying pan or wok. Season the chicken legs with salt then place skin side down in the pan. Cook until the skin is golden, then turn over.
- Add the curry paste to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until very fragrant.
- Add the coconut milk a little at a time, stirring to completely incorporate each time.
- Pour in the stock. Add the potatoes (cut into 1 inch cubes, no need to peel) and add enough water to ensure the chicken legs are submerged.
- Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 40 minutes.
- Turn the heat up and bring to a rolling boil. Add the fish sauce and palm sugar. Stir frequently until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Serve with rice and topped with the remaining coriander and a handful of peanuts.
Video
