Thai Curry Rice

Last night I made my Grilled Asian Pork Chop recipe and decided to make a summer and zucchini squash as the vegetable and for the starch I made rice. But not just any rice, Thai Curry Rice.
Last year I bought a small jar of Thai Curry Paste and still had about 1/3 of the jar left. It lasts a long time and I decided this rice needed some oomph. What better flavor to complement the pork chops than to have a Thai Curry Rice dish? The Red Thai Curry paste is available in the Asian section of your grocery store and if memory serves me correctly the four ounce jar costs around $3.00.

This rice dish is so incredibly easy and cooks in about 18-20 minutes total and the flavor is great. You get heat and that nice spicy flavor without it being overpowering. It's so inexpensive to make. You can boil water and use a bouillon cube or two if boxed stock is too expensive for you. The ratio of rice to liquid is 1 part rice and 2 parts liquid. One cup of rice feeds 4-6 portions.
To make good rice you need a wide sauce pot to work with, tiny diameter pots don't work as well and the rice takes longer to cook and then you may end up with mushy rice. The butter and oil coats the rice and the rice kernels don't stick so you end up with nice fluffy rice.

• 2 cups chicken broth (or water with bouillon)
• 1 cup long grain white rice
• 1/4 cup diced onion (yellow or any that you like)
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. oil (vegetable, olive oil - whatever you have on hand)
• 1 tsp. Red Thai Curry Paste
• 1/4 tsp. granulated garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter and oil in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Add the onion and stir. Cook the onion until it becomes translucent and add in the curry paste. Give this a good stir and mash around for about 20 seconds then add in the rice.
2. Stir to coat the rice and add in the dry spices and the broth. Mix well, put the saucepan lid on and let it come up to almost a boil on medium high heat. When you see the first bubbles, turn the rice down to a simmer and keep the lid on during the cooking process.
3. Check it at about 15 minutes, stir, and taste to see if you need a little bit more stock. The rice is generally done in 18-20 minutes. All of the liquid should be absorbed and the rice tender. Just fluff the rice with a fork and you are all set to plate.