Crispy Curry Chicken Thighs with Garlic Ginger Rice is a fragrant and delicious comfort food dish. The chicken is crisp yet juicy and the rice is good enough to eat on its own. Combined, it’s a winner winner chicken dinner!

The Key to Getting Crispy Curry Chicken Thighs

Seasoning the chicken a full 24 hours before cooking and letting it sit uncovered in the fridge is the key to perfectly crispy chicken skin.

As it sits in the fridge, the skin dries out. And this is good because moisture is the death of crisp. This is also the reason why you need to season the chicken so far in advance.

Curry paste has moisture in it. So, if you left the seasoning to the last minute, it would defeat the purpose of letting the chicken dry out.

You might be thinking “I don’t want dry chicken though. Dry chicken is horrible.” And this is true. But that’s where the salt comes in.

The Importance of Salt

Before placing the chicken thighs in the fridge, you need to salt them before rubbing them with the curry paste.

Because while the chicken sits out, the salt will slowly penetrate the chicken thighs all the way to the bone, flavoring the chicken from the inside out. It will also make sure the chicken will be nice and moist when it’s cooked.

Searing the Chicken Skin

Before cooking the chicken, it’s important to let it sit out at room temperature for an hour to ensure even cooking. If the chicken is cold before you start, it affects the roast.

Once the chicken is ready to cook, briefly searing the chicken skin side down over a hot skillet will ensure the skin gets wonderfully crispy.

This can be a little bit tricky. Depending on the size of your burner, searing the chicken should take 5 to 10 minutes. You don’t want the skin to be completely blackened and burnt. Just slightly blackened.

Flipping the chicken thighs over before transferring to the oven makes sure the skin doesn’t burn.

Garlic Ginger Rice

Garlic Ginger Rice is pretty straight forward and if you time everything right, the rice should finish a couple of minutes before the chicken is ready.

Start the garlic ginger rice first:

• Rinse the rice until the water runs clear
• Heat some oil over high heat and then add the garlic and ginger (5 garlic cloves diced and 2 and ½ teaspoons diced ginger!)
• Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds DON’T LET THE GARLIC AND GINGER BURN
• Pour the rinsed rice into the skillet and stir for 3 minutes
• Add chicken broth and salt, bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low

Once you cover and reduce the heat to a simmer, begin heating the skillet for the chicken.

Chicken Dinner Time

Serve the rice on a platter. If desired, spoon some of the curry-flavored oil from the skillet the chicken was roasted in and mix it throughout the rice. This adds a touch of curry flavor throughout the rice.

I like to strike a bargain between flavor and oiliness and don’t recommend adding ALL the oil from the chicken skillet. This will most likely make the rice too oily for your taste.

To add fresh bursts of flavor to the rice, you can mix in chopped cilantro. Place the roasted chicken on top of the rice and serve with quartered limes.

Other Thai Yellow Curry Paste Recipes

I’m sneaking this post in on the last day of October to complete Curry October. Before you go, check out these other Thai Yellow Curry Paste recipes.

• Thai Yellow Curry with Chicken
• Cheesy Thai Yellow Curry Tater Tot Bake
• Twice Baked Acorn Squash with Thai Yellow Curry and Chicken
• Thai Yellow Curry Popcorn
• Oven Roasted Pepitas with Curry
• Easy Chocolate Bark with Curry, Pepitas, and Coconut Flakes
• Crispy Curry Chicken Thighs with Garlic Ginger Rice

Taking the time to make curry paste from scratch is totally worth it when you can make so many things.

I hope you all have a fun Halloween! For the first time in a long time, I put some thought and money into my costume even though I didn’t have any plans. I’ll just have fun passing out candy as Sabrina Spellman.

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Crispy Curry Chicken Thighs with Garlic Ginger Rice

Crispy Curry Chicken Thighs with Garlic Ginger Rice is a fragrant and delicious comfort food dish. The chicken is crisp yet juicy and the rice is good enough to eat on its own. Combined, it's a winner winner chicken dinner!

Course Main Dishes

Keyword Thai yellow curry

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Resting Time 1 day 1 hour

Servings 4

Author Megan Wells

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in chicken thighs skin on
• 1/2 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
• 4 teaspoons Thai Yellow Curry Paste
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil separated
• 5 garlic cloves pressed
• 2.5 teaspoons ginger diced
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon Morton kosher salt
• Cilantro chopped (optional)
• Limes quartered (optional)

Instructions

1. The night before, rinse chicken thighs under running water and then pat dry. Rub the chicken thighs with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Rub each chicken thigh with 1 teaspoon curry paste. Place on a rimmed baking sheet, baking pan, or plate and set in the fridge overnight, uncovered.

2. Let the chicken sit at room temperature for 1 hour before cooking.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
4. Put rice in a strainer and rinse until the liquid runs clear. Drain.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat until it is hot and then add the garlic and ginger. Stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
6. Add rice and cook for 3 minutes, stirring.
7. Add the broth and salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 18 minutes.
8. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot add 1 tablespoon oil.
9. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken thighs skin side down and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until slightly blackened.
10. Flip the chicken and transfer the chicken to the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken has reached 165 degrees at the thickest part.
11. Serve up the rice on a platter. If desired, spoon some of the curry-flavored oil from the skillet the chicken was roasted in and mix throughout the rice. This adds a touch of curry flavor throughout the rice. The amount you add is up to your personal taste.
12. You can also mix some chopped cilantro into the rice to add fresh bursts of flavor.
13. Place the roasted chicken on top of the rice and serve with quartered limes.