This very flavorful curry dish is served in Cambodia, where it is called samlá. I believe the original version would use a ton of fresh galangal — ginger works fine, as well. I added a touch of galangal (Laos) powder (which I keep in the pantry) to add that woody delicious aroma of galangal. I prefer this curry rather fiery, but if you like it milder, you can cut down on the Thai chilies. If you like curry, you must try this dish and let me know what you think!
4 inches fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced cross-wise
3 stalks lemongrass, outer leaves removed, bottom 6 inches finely chopped
2 – 4 dried Thai chilies, soaked in hot water 20 minutes, then finely chopped
1/2 tsp Thai shrimp paste
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp grated lime rind
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Laos powder (dried, ground galangal)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
5 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 shallots or 1 medium onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 14.5 oz can coconut milk
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh lime juice
Combine first 11 ingredients (through shallots) in a food processor. Process into a smooth paste.
Heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. Add ginger mixture and stir-fry 1 minute. Add 
chicken and brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Add coconut milk and sugar. Deglaze pan while bringing mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 25 minutes. Remove lid and let simmer an additional 5 minutes, until sauce is slightly thickened. Stir in lime juice and season with additional salt and/or sugar if desired. Serve over steamed jasmine rice.
Serves 4.
AnotherDish.com 
This looks so yummy..Thanks for sharing
My pleasure. Thanks for the nice comment!
This looks beautiful!
Thanks, glad you think so!
I’m so used to just using pre-mixed curry powder, imagine that using so many other ingredients gives the dish a lot of depth…looking forward to trying it!
Thanks, JTAlley. There are many, many curries in the world. Some are Indian-style (for which you might use “curry powder,” or the dried spices that are behind that), others are simpler, like the Khmer-style, based on galangal(Laos), lemongrass, etc. It’s all good!
I was thinking of creating a curry paste to keep in the fridge for curry-mergencies, and this gives me an idea of where to start. Do you have a favorite curry blend yourself? Thank you!
Thanks for the nice comment. Although it doesn’t have “curry” in the name, it’s an Indonesian curry. One of my favorites, and it was one of my first posts…https://anotherdish.com/2013/02/21/opor-ayam/.
Looks so good! Unfortunately I can’t get most of the ingredients here, so I’ll just drool! 😊
Thanks so much for the nice comment!