Thai Green Chicken Curry

This recipe is one of my favourites for ease versus the tasty dish it returns and includes a money saving tip as an added bonus! The recipe uses ready-made paste but if you have the time you can mix and grind your own but every time I have done this I find the results no better than using a prepared paste. Added to that, my Indian wholesaler sells 2 litre tubs of Patak’s curry pastes to many, many Indian restaurants so don’t beat yourself up over it; if it tastes good then go for it.

Ingredients

1 tbsp of sunflower or vegetable oil

1 large onion finely diced

1 tin of coconut milk (400ml)

400g Chicken breast cut into cubes

50g Thai green curry paste (according to taste. See below)

1 large potato cut into 2cm x 2cm cubes

1 tsp of fish sauce

Freshly ground black pepper

1 handful of fresh basil leaves roughly chopped

1 handful of fesh coriander leaves roughly chopped

I have put that the amount of paste to use is according to taste as approximately a third of the ingredients of the paste is green chillis. So adding more paste means making your curry hotter. Other pastes may vary in terms of the percentage of chillis. My favourite make of paste is Cock brand (no sniggering at the back!) although others like Mae Ploy are also good. Regarding the coconut milk, some people prefer to use light as it has less fat in it. Light just means there is water added to the coconut milk so I would suggest buying “full fat” coconut milk then mixing it well with 400ml of water effectively now giving you 2 tins worth of “light” coconut milk. Use a tins worth and freeze the rest in a freezer bag for next time.

Some people might question the use of potatoes but I find it adds to the heartiness of the curry and helps to thicken the sauce as the potatoes soften.

Method

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes stirring regularly until they start to go brown. Reduce the heat to low and add the curry paste. Stir continuously to cook the paste through for at least a minute. Now increase the heat to medium high and add the chicken stirring to cover the pieces in the paste. Add the coconut milk and the potatoes and stir well to mix. Bring to the boil and add the fish sauce and then leave to simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or so.

Add a good grind of black pepper and the coriander and basil. Mix well and check the sauce for flavour. If needed add a little more fish sauce (be careful not to overdo it). Leave to stand for 5 minutes and then serve with Thai Jasmine rice.

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