Thai Green Curry

One of our favourite dishes is Thai Green Curry; with King Prawns or chicken. We've tried various made up versions. The best by far is from Rafi's Spice Box in York. It has a fresh fragrance that few others can compete with. For some years I have tried to match their version and although I have come close I've always just fallen short. A couple of weeks ago I fell a long way short and so I set to with some careful research to see if I could create something that not only was as good if not better but also a dish I could repeat. It's partly why I do this blog. If I haven't cooked anything for a while I have a record that I can read up on.

Here is the result, the best Thai Green I have made by far and, according to my wife, one that matches Rafi's.

Ingredients

 

The Paste

 

5 Chillies - deseeded and roughly chopped.

 

4 Shallots - roughly chopped.

 

4 Garlic Cloves - roughly chopped.

 

Coriander stalks from a large bunch - the leaves will be used in the curry.

 

3 inch piece Galangal - use ginger if you can't get it.

 

3 Lemongrass stalks - the stubby end, roughly chopped. The rest can join the curry.

 

1 Lime - juice and rind.

 

6-8 Kaffir Lime leaves - I used the dried ones here.

 

1 tablespoon Coriander powder.

 

1 teaspoon Cumin powder.

 

1 teaspoon Black Pepper.

 

1 teaspoon Soy sauce - I used Amoy reduced salt.

 

1 teaspoon Fish sauce.

 

2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil.

 

 

The Curry

 

 

450-500g of Chicken breast - cut into bite sized pieces.

 

2 Lemongrass stalks - lightly bashed (the top ends of the stalks used in the paste can be added too)

 

8 Kaffir Lime leaves - I used those you get in Sainsbury's fresh herb section. Tear them up a little.

 

4-5 Star Anise.

 

1 Lime - juice only.

 

1 heaped teaspoon of dark sugar.

 

400g Green Beans - topped and tailed and cut into thirds.

 

225g tin Sliced Water Chestnuts.

 

Leaves from a large bunch of Coriander - chopped.

 

400g tin Coconut milk.

 

Fish sauce - a splash.

 

 

The Process

 



To the left you can see the ingredients for the paste.

Pile all the paste ingredients into a food processor and whizz to a fine paste.

Fry the paste for a couple of minutes on a high heat and then reduce the heat. I didn't add any oil as there is plenty, in my view, in the paste itself. Keep stirring on a medium heat and add the Sugar, Lemongrass, Kaffir Lime leaves and Star Anise from the Curry ingredient list.

The pan you can see to the top left of the photo has the green beans in it. They will take about 7 minutes.

Add the chicken and coat in the paste before pouring in the Coconut milk. Stir it all in and allow to simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Towards the end add the Lime juice and extra Fish sauce.

Once the curry is nearly ready add in the Green Beans, chopped Coriander leaves and Water Chestnuts and heat through.

Almost done. It is best left to stand a while to let the chicken rest and curry to cool a little. The flavours are best when not too hot.

While the curry is cooking you can sort out a side dish. I tried the following. Shredded Chinese cabbage, 2 red chillies, chopped, 4 large spring onions sliced lengthways and cut into 2 inch sections, a couple of inches of ginger cut into thin batons, 3 cloves garlic crushed. I fried the garlic, ginger, chillies and white parts of the spring onion for a minute in a tablespoon of oil; added a tablespoon of Soy sauce and a teaspoon of Fish sauce before adding the rest. It worked well with the main dish.

Here is the finished result for the curry. We got three good portions. most people would probably get at least four.