How to Make a Great Thai Green Curry

Thai green curry is a favourite and first hit our screens with the great chefs. Wonderful food when served with fragrant jasmine rice.

Ideally use chicken but meat free, vegan style curry can be used with aubergine and courgette. 

In this recipe, Thai green paste is used but already prepared so that  reduces the time taken to get the dish prepared in under half an hour. The key step is to fry that paste because it creates unimaginable flavour waves.  It stores well overnight and I think chilling helps to bring out the flavours the second time around. Some pastes also contain fish sauce anyway so just taste the curry before you add any more sauce.

Green peppercorns are not to everyone’s liking but these do not have to be part of the dish. Use them if you can because they have a unique throat catching pungency that rocks this dish. The same is said of lemongrass which contributes wow factor. The sauce is extremely versatile and can be used with almost anything.

Thai green chillis have a great pungency. Most Thai green pastes have chilli in there but more if you find the heat not enough and include the seeds too. 

Preparation time: less than 30 mins; Cooking time: 30 mins to 1 hour

Serves 4

Ingredients For A Thai Green Curry:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• About 750g/1½lb skinless, boneless chicken chicken breast, cut into chunks. This is probably enough but I think anywhere around this amount will do.
• 4-5 tbsp Thai green curry paste but this can be varied
• 1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar or some other brown sugar like Demerara lets say
• 1–2 thick stalks lemongrass, fat ends bashed with a mallet or rolling pin or some other heavy object (optional)
• 3 teaspoons of green peppercorns
• 6–8 kaffir lime leaves, torn into pieces (if unavailable, use the grated zest of 1 lime)
• 400ml tin coconut milk (critical for smoothness)
• 1 tablespoon of of Nam Pla  or a Thai fish sauce or light soy sauce
• Either a large handful of coriander, roughly chopped or a handful of basil if a slightly different flavour is needed instead of coriander. Either works perfectly well but I think coriander comes out in the betting stakes as 2:1 favourite with the rest of the family.
• ½–1 lime but use the juice only