Chicken green curry

Jun 13, 2012

I think Thai green curry is the most iconic Thai dish around, everyone has heard of it. It is enjoyed in homes and restaurants all over the world from San Francisco to Tokyo and everywhere in between. I love Thai green curry, especially the homemade stuff, but my recipe and my cooking skills have now massively improved since I attended a Thai cooking class at The Pirate restaurant in Koh Samui.

This recipe is so easy and really demonstrates that when it comes to making easy, tasty meals at home less is more. I have a tendency to get carried away with whatever is in my fridge and start throwing in all manner of vegetables, which you can if you love to do that but no Thai green curry recipe really needs it.

What I really loved about Parn’s recipe is that he doesn’t go over top on the ingredients, he only uses a small amount of chicken, some Thai aubergines, a few herbs and a red chilli. Yet the dish is packed full of texture, colour and flavour. I was so proud of myself for making this dish as I already thought I made a pretty good Thai green curry, but now I make a top quality professional Thai green curry.

I can’t believe how helpful doing the Thai cooking class was, I can’t wait to do more and practice more dishes. This recipe is for one person, I haven’t altered it as it is not my own recipe, but all you need to do is work out the maths for more people and you can easily feed the whole family.

Meal for one, home cooked and delicious

Serves: one person
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Chicken green curry recipe- ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 ½ tsp of green curry paste*
200ml coconut milk
100g chicken breast diced
2 kaffir lime leaves torn
3 Thai aubergines quartered (you can use regular aubergine)

1 handful of pea sized Thai aubergine
½ large red chilli sliced
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)
2 tsp fish sauce
6 leaves of Thai basil
Serve with your choice of rice

*Thai green curry paste is extremely fiery in Thailand so often you only need a small amount, if buying a jar paste in the UK you may find you need up to 3 tsp, but add more to your own tastes.

Thai green curry recipe- Method

Essential to all Thai cooking, prepare all your ingredients prior to starting to cook. Go for the Blue Peter method of ‘here’s one I prepared earlier’. When chopping the Thai aubergine it turns black very quickly and discolours within seconds, Parn told me to soak it in salt water after chopping and it works a treat. No need to chop the pea sized aubergines but be aware if you use them they are quite bitter even when cooked.

Place saucepan on a medium heat and add he vegetable oil and green curry paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes, allow time for the aromas to be released from the curry paste. Pour 30ml of coconut milk in slowly, allow mix to bubble away but don’t let it burn, cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

Add in chicken, mix into paste and allow chicken to brown. Then add kaffir lime leaves. At this stage increase to a full heat and slowly stir in the remaining coconut milk and add aubergines and red chilli. Allow to bubble away. In a lot of South East Asian cooking they like to cook quickly on a high heat.

Now stir in your Thai flavours; salt followed by palm sugar and fish sauce, one after the other. Taste and add more if you wish. Just before serving stir in the Thai basil leaves, this is where you get that lovely release of aniseed from the Thai basil. Pour into a bowl and serve with a side plate of rice.

Interestingly Parn referred to Thai basil as Swiss basil, I’d never heard of Swiss basil and when I smelled it I was sure this was Thai basil due to the lovely liquorice scent. I also can’t find any reference to Swiss basil anywhere, so it still remains a mystery to me! But what we used was definitely Thai basil!