Kay Plunkett-Hogge’s classic green chicken curry, taken from her book Baan, is made with a homemade curry paste and plenty of fresh Thai vegetables.
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Ingredients
For the paste
- ½ tsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp white peppercorns
- Good pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp finely chopped galangal
- 1 tbsp finely chopped lemongrass
- 2 Thai shallots or 1 regular shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- 12 green bird’s eye chillies, de-stemmed and chopped
- 2 long green chillies, de-stemmed and finely chopped
- 4 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander root, with some stem attached (see Know-how)
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
- 2cm piece fresh turmeric, finely chopped
- Grated zest 1 kaffir lime (see tips)
- 1 tsp kapi (shrimp paste)
For the curry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 400ml coconut milk
- 350g chicken thighs, cut into 2cm pieces
- 1–2 tbsp nam pla (fish sauce)
- Pinch of caster sugar (optional)
- 65g pea aubergines
- 2 Thai round aubergines (eggplants), cut into quarters
- 100g bamboo shoots, chopped
- 2 long red chillies, diagonally sliced into 3 pieces
- Large handful of fresh Thai sweet basil
- 1 long orange chilli (optional)
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Method
- To make the paste: pound all the ingredients in a pestle and mortar (starting with hardest ingredients first, as listed, working down to the softest), until you have a uniform, close-textured paste. If it’s not completely smooth, don’t worry. If you prefer to use a food processor or a blender, again work from the hardest to the softest ingredients, and add about 1 tablespoon water or more to bring the paste together.
- To make the curry: heat the oil in a wok or saucepan and fry the paste until it smells fragrant, about 1 minute. Add half of the coconut milk, bring to the boil slowly, stirring to dissolve the paste. Once the paste has dissolved, let the coconut milk simmer a little until you see oil appearing on the surface, then add 200ml of water and bring to the boil.
- Add the chicken and bring back to the boil, then add the rest of the coconut milk. Bring back to the boil and simmer for about 6 minutes. Add the nam pla and the sugar, if using. Taste and adjust the seasoning. If it seems a little thick, add a little more water – you want a soupiness, not a thick gravy.
- Add the aubergines, the bamboo shoots and one of the long red chillies. Simmer for another 3 minutes or so. Taste – you want this to taste vibrant, hot, salty and herbaceous. Add the basil, the remaining red chilli and the whole orange chilli if you have one, and serve with some jasmine rice and nam pla prik (fish sauce with chillies).
Nutrition
- 263 Calories
- 23.3g (15.2g sat fat) Fat
- 4.1g Protein
- 7g (4.8g sugars) Carbs
- 4.3g Fibre
- 1.5g Salt
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