Thai food: classic green chicken curry recipe

This is the one curry paste you should always make from scratch. It’s also the easiest, the best one to learn and practise on, and the best way to remember why the green curry became famous in the first place.

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Louise Hagger

SERVES 4

Ingredients

For the paste
*½ tsp coriander seeds
*½ tsp cumin seeds
*1 tsp white peppercorns
*a 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 Thai 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
*1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
*2-cm piece of fresh turmeric, finely chopped
*zest of 1 kaffir lime
*1 tsp kapi (shrimp paste)

For the curry
*2 tbsp vegetable oil
*1 x 400-ml can of coconut milk
8350 g chicken thighs, cut into 2-cm dice
*1–2 tbsp nam pla (fish sauce)
*a pinch of caster sugar (optional)
*65 g pea aubergines
*2 Thai round aubergines, cut into quarters
*100 g bamboo shoots, chopped
*2 long red chillies, diagonally sliced into 3 pieces
*a large handful of Thai sweet basil
*1 long orange chilli (optional)

Method

1. 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.

2. 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 one tablespoon water or more to bring the paste together.

3. 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.

4. Once the paste has dissolved, let the coconut milk simmer a little until you see oil appearing on the surface. Then add 200 ml of water and bring to the boil.

5. Add the chicken and bring back to the boil, then add the rest of the coconut milk.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Add the basil, the remaining red chilli and the whole orange chilli if you have one, and serve with some jasmine rice.

More from Baan:

Baan: Recipes and stories from my Thai home by Kay Plunkett-Hogge, published by Pavilion Books.