Creamy, fragrant Thai green curry with a kick you control. A microwave ready meal put me off green curry for years, until a Thai takeaway changed my mind, and this is my version that I reckon easily beats that takeaway. I use shop-bought paste and pimp it with fresh ginger, lime zest, garlic and lemongrass, because galangal, makrut lime leaves and shrimp paste are a pain to find in the UK. My favourite pastes are in the recipe notes.
Ingredients
- For the curry
- 700 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 800 ml Coconut milk, full-fat, see notes
- 6 tbsp (96g) Thai green curry paste, see notes
- 3 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- 15 g Fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1 Lemongrass, bruised
- 2 Green chillies, finely sliced, optional
- 1 Lime zest
- 100 ml Chicken stock
- 13 g Palm sugar, finely chopped or grated, or light brown sugar
- 1 Aubergines, small, cut into 2cm chunks
- 1 Red peppers, thinly sliced
- 100 g Mangetout
- 100 g Tinned bamboo shoots, drained
- 2 tbsp (34g) Fish sauce
- 30 g Fresh lime juice
- 30 g Thai basil, torn
- For the jasmine rice
- 400 g Thai jasmine rice
- 560 g Water
- To serve
- 5 g Thai basil
- 1 Limes, cut into wedges
Equipment
- Large, heavy based sauté pan
Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Tip it into a saucepan with the measured water and set over medium-high heat without a lid.
As soon as it reaches a simmer, turn the heat as low as it will go, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Leave the lid on and rest off the heat for at least 15 minutes.
Finely mince the garlic and ginger, finely slice the green chillies, and zest the lime.
Bruise the lemongrass along its length with the back of a knife or a rolling pin, keeping it in one piece so it can be lifted out later.
Without shaking the tins, open them and spoon the thick cream from the top of half of your tins into a large, heavy-based saucepan or sauté pan, keeping the thinner liquid and the remaining tins back for later.
Set over medium heat and let the cream bubble gently, stirring occasionally until it thickens and the oil starts to separate out.
Add the green curry paste to the split coconut cream and fry, stirring often, until it darkens and turns deeply aromatic with the oil appearing around it — about 4–5 minutes.
Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, green chillies and lime zest and fry for a further 1–2 minutes. Keep the heat moderate and the paste moving; if it starts to catch, drop the heat.
Add the remaining coconut milk along with the chicken stock and palm sugar.
Bring to a gentle simmer, add the chicken, and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Add the aubergine and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the red pepper and simmer for 3 minutes.
Then add the mangetout and bamboo shoots and cook for a further 2 minutes, until the aubergine is tender and the mangetout still has a little bite.
Turn the heat to low. Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice, then taste and adjust — more fish sauce for salt and savoury depth, more palm sugar to round out heat or bitterness, more lime for freshness, more chilli for heat. Pull it back and forth until it tastes balanced. For more on judging a dish by taste, see tasting as you cook.
Take the pan off the heat and lift out the lemongrass. Tear the Thai basil and stir it through, leaving it for a minute or two to infuse.
Spoon the curry into bowls alongside the jasmine rice. Scatter with the extra Thai basil and serve with lime wedges.
Notes & Substitutions
Green curry paste: A good shop-bought paste is the sensible route here — the fresh version is a real project and ingredients such as galangal, Makrut lime leaves and shrimp paste are difficult to source. Maesri brand is regarded as the best: well-balanced and less salty than most, so it leaves you room to season. Mae Ploy is another reliable one, thicker and hotter. Both are sold in Asian supermarkets and most larger supermarkets.
Coconut milk: Use full-fat, not light, the cream is the whole point of splitting it in Step 3. Chilling the tins beforehand makes the thick cream easier to spoon off.
Aubergine: Thai green curry is traditionally made with pea or Thai apple aubergines, both hard to source. A regular aubergine is the easy substitute and works well; cut it a little larger than you think, as it softens and shrinks as it cooks.
Heat: The green chillies are optional and sit on top of whatever heat the paste already brings. Taste the curry before adding them and judge from there — easier to add heat than to pull it back.
Make it your own: Chicken thigh stays tender through a simmer where breast would dry out, but the curry takes well to prawns added for the final few minutes, or firm tofu and extra vegetables for a meat-free version.
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Thai Green Curry
COOKED
PROPERLY
Ingredients
- 700 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite-sized pieces)
- 800 ml Coconut milk (full-fat, see notes)
- 6 tbsp Thai green curry paste (see notes)
- 3 cloves Garlic (finely minced)
- 15 g Fresh ginger (finely minced)
- 1 Lemongrass (bruised)
- 2 Green chillies (finely sliced, optional)
- 1 Lime zest
- 100 ml Chicken stock
- 13 g Palm sugar (finely chopped or grated, or light brown sugar)
- 1 Aubergines (small, cut into 2cm chunks)
- 1 Red peppers (thinly sliced)
- 100 g Mangetout
- 100 g Tinned bamboo shoots (drained)
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 30 g Fresh lime juice
- 30 g Thai basil (torn)
- 400 g Thai jasmine rice
- 560 g Water
- 5 g Thai basil
- 1 Limes (cut into wedges)
Equipment
- Large, heavy based sauté pan
Method
Cook the rice
400 g Thai jasmine rice · 560 g Water
Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Tip it into a saucepan with the measured water and set over medium-high heat without a lid.
As soon as it reaches a simmer, turn the heat as low as it will go, cover, and cook for 12 minutes. Leave the lid on and rest off the heat for at least 15 minutes.
Prepare the aromatics
3 cloves Garlic · 15 g Fresh ginger · 1 Lemongrass · 2 Green chillies · 1 Lime zest
Finely mince the garlic and ginger, finely slice the green chillies, and zest the lime.
Bruise the lemongrass along its length with the back of a knife or a rolling pin, keeping it in one piece so it can be lifted out later.
Split the coconut cream
800 ml Coconut milk
Without shaking the tins, open them and spoon the thick cream from the top of half of your tins into a large, heavy-based saucepan or sauté pan, keeping the thinner liquid and the remaining tins back for later.
Set over medium heat and let the cream bubble gently, stirring occasionally until it thickens and the oil starts to separate out.
Full-fat coconut milk is essential, and the colder the tins, the more cleanly the cream sits on top. Time in the fridge beforehand makes it easier to spoon the thick cream off the watery liquid underneath.
Fry the curry paste
6 tbsp Thai green curry paste
Add the green curry paste to the split coconut cream and fry, stirring often, until it darkens and turns deeply aromatic with the oil appearing around it — about 4–5 minutes.
Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, green chillies and lime zest and fry for a further 1–2 minutes. Keep the heat moderate and the paste moving; if it starts to catch, drop the heat.
Build the curry
700 g Boneless skinless chicken thighs · 100 ml Chicken stock · 13 g Palm sugar
Add the remaining coconut milk along with the chicken stock and palm sugar.
Bring to a gentle simmer, add the chicken, and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Keep it at a low simmer once the chicken is in. A hard boil tightens the thighs and can cause the coconut milk to split into oil and curds. A lazy bubble or two breaking the surface is what you want.
Add the vegetables
1 Aubergines · 1 Red peppers · 100 g Mangetout · 100 g Tinned bamboo shoots
Add the aubergine and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the red pepper and simmer for 3 minutes.
Then add the mangetout and bamboo shoots and cook for a further 2 minutes, until the aubergine is tender and the mangetout still has a little bite.
Balance the curry
2 tbsp Fish sauce · 30 g Fresh lime juice
Turn the heat to low. Stir in the fish sauce and lime juice, then taste and adjust — more fish sauce for salt and savoury depth, more palm sugar to round out heat or bitterness, more lime for freshness, more chilli for heat. Pull it back and forth until it tastes balanced. For more on judging a dish by taste, see tasting as you cook.
Finish with Thai basil
30 g Thai basil
Take the pan off the heat and lift out the lemongrass. Tear the Thai basil and stir it through, leaving it for a minute or two to infuse.
Serve
5 g Thai basil · 1 Limes
Spoon the curry into bowls alongside the jasmine rice. Scatter with the extra Thai basil and serve with lime wedges.
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One bowl per ingredient. It sounds simple. It changes everything.
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The wok costs £25. The heat underneath it is what you're really paying for.
£10-£25
One bowl per ingredient. It sounds simple. It changes everything.
£25-£75
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