Thai Green Curry

Gizzi: “So for this one, the curry has less oil than a takeaway Thai curry, as you are making the paste yourself. It is poached, not stir-fried, and we are using low fat coconut milk.”

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the paste

  • 2 long green chillies
  • 10 green birds eye chillies
  • 1 tbsp chopped lemon grass
  • 3 shallots, peeled and chopped
  • 8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
  • Small bunch fresh coriander, with roots if you can find them
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp white pepper, you know the old fashion stuff that makes you sneeze – it’s rife in Thailand and really distinctive in their cooking
  • 3 lime leaves, chopped
  • 2 tsp of shrimp paste, you can buy this in the supermarket now
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp of groundnut or vegetable oil
  • 2-3 tbsp of water

For the curry

  • 2 chicken breasts, sliced
  • 8 green aubergines, quartered (asparagus or purple aubergines will work just as well)
  • 2 handfuls of spring pea aubergines picked off their stems
  • 1 x 400g can low fat coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp palm, brown sugar or fruit sugar
  • 2 lime leaves, sliced
  • 1 red chilli, sliced
  • Thai basil to serve

METHOD

How to make Thai green curry

1. Put all of the paste ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Heat a wok then add one third of the paste to the paste to the pan. Stir-fry for one minute or until the rooms fills with a gorgeous aroma, then add in the chicken. Coat the chicken in the paste, then add in both lots of the aubergines.

2. Pour over the coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves and chilli and let simmer for about 7 minutes or until the chicken and aubergines are cooked through and the sauce has thickened a little.

3. Pour into a serving pot and sprinkle with Thai basil leaves. Serve with Thai fragrant rice.