Thai Green Curry

Curry

• coconut milk400 ml
• green curry paste3–4 tbsp
• vegetable oil (optional)1 tbsp
• boneless chicken thighs600 g
• chicken stock150 ml
• makrut lime leaves4
• Thai aubergines200 g
• bamboo shoots150 g
• fish sauce2 tbsp
• palm sugar1 tbsp
• red chillies2
• Thai basil1 handful

To serve

• jasmine rice300 g
• limes (optional)1

1. 01

   Rinse the jasmine rice and put it on to cook following the packet instructions. Open the coconut milk without shaking the can and spoon the thick cream from the top into a wok or wide pan. Set it over medium heat and let it bubble for 3 to 4 minutes until it thickens and clear fat beads on the surface. If your milk is homogenised and will not split, add the tablespoon of oil instead.

2. 02

   Stir in the curry paste and fry it for 2 to 3 minutes, pressing it into the hot cream, until it darkens a shade and smells strongly of lemongrass and galangal. This is where the flavour of the dish is made, so give it the full time.

3. 03

   Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, add them and turn them in the paste for 3 to 4 minutes, until they are coloured all over and no longer pink on the outside.

4. 04

   Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the stock, drop in the lime leaves and bring it to a gentle simmer. Do not let it boil hard or the coconut milk will split and turn grainy.

5. 05

   Quarter the aubergines and drain and slice the bamboo shoots. Add them and simmer uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes, until the aubergine is tender and the chicken is cooked through with no pink left inside. Meanwhile, thinly slice the red chillies.

6. 06

   Season with the fish sauce and palm sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Taste it: salty first, then sweet, with the heat arriving behind both. Add a splash more fish sauce or a pinch more sugar until it sits where you like it.

7. 07

   Turn off the heat, stir through the sliced red chillies and most of the Thai basil and let it sit for 2 minutes so the basil wilts in the residual heat rather than cooking.

8. 08

   Cut the lime into wedges. Serve in bowls with the jasmine rice, the last of the basil scattered on top and the lime wedges alongside.