Sometimes you just want to prepare a little more elaborate meal. If you enjoy Asian-style food, and are not afraid of a little spice, then you may want to try this Thai Green Curry Chicken.
Makes four portions. Preparation is about 1 hour.
What ingredients will you need?
- about one pound, or ½ kg of chicken meat, preferably thighs, but breasts are also good
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 1 can of cut fine green beans in water
- green curry paste
- lemongrass paste
- 1 lime
- 2 garlic cloves
- a piece of ginger root, about 4cm long
- 1 tablespoon of unrefined brown cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
- a chicken stock cube
- oil for wok, I recommend peanut oil, or coconut oil, but any oil suitable for heating will do
- ½ tablespoon of ground coriander seeds
- about 10 basil leaves + some for decoration
- (optional) 4 kaffir lime leaves
And this is how the magic happens:
- Start with precooking the chicken. Put it the lightly salted water, and boil it for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the rest of ingredients.
- Roll the lime against the table, gently squeezing – this will make it juicier. If you don’t have any kaffir lime leaves, then wash the lime thoroughly and use its peel in the dish.
- Peel the garlic cloves and crush, or finely chop them. Remove the layer of the skin off the ginger, and cut it into thin slices.
- After the meat is cooked, start heating up the oil of your choice in a wok. If you have a wok, use a big pan or a pot. Keep the hop on a medium setting,
- Add garlic to the oil, and stir in the green curry paste. Depending on your preferences, and how spicy the brand of paste is, you may want to use from ½ tablespoon, to 2 tablespoons of it.
- Pour in the coconut milk, and mix until combined. Add ginger, about a tablespoon of lemongrass paste, and lime peel/shredded kaffir lime leaves.
- While the sauce is heating up, dice the chicken meat.
- Dissolve the stock cube in small amount of water, and add it to the sauce, together with soy sauce, fish sauce, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and chicken meat.
- Put the lid on, and cook all of it on a low setting for about 5 to 10 minutes. The chicken mustn’t be raw, so check if it’s thoroughly cooked after this stage.
- Squeeze in the lime juice, half of the tablespoon of ground coriander seeds, 10 shredded leaves of basil, and check if the dish doesn’t need and more sugar, or salt.
- Serve with basmati rice, or a side of naan bread. Decorate with a basil leaf.
Enjoy!
