Red curry is a Thai dish made by simmering red curry paste — a blend of red chilies, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, garlic, and kaffir lime leaves — in coconut milk. It is one of the most popular and widely recognized Thai curry varieties, known for its bright red color and complex, spicy-sweet flavor profile. The term is also used loosely for the paste itself; a recipe calling for red curry paste means the uncooked aromatic base, not the finished coconut-milk dish.
The use of red chilies in Thai curries is generally credited to chilies reaching Southeast Asia through Portuguese and Spanish trade in the 16th century; Thai cooks then built their own blend of spices and aromatics around them.
To prepare a red curry dish, the paste is simmered in coconut milk, often with a protein (such as chicken, beef, or shrimp), vegetables, and seasonings like fish sauce and palm sugar. The result balances the heat of the chilies against the sweetness of the coconut milk and the sour, savory notes of the other ingredients.
Common variations include added potatoes, bamboo shoots, or eggplant, different proteins, or adjusted spice levels. In northern Thailand, red curry is sometimes made with roasted chili paste, giving it a smokier flavor.
Red curry has become widely popular outside Thailand, used by international restaurants and home cooks well beyond its regional origins.