Thai Green Curry

Easy step by step instructions for making a great Thai style green curry with chicken at home.

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

For curry paste

• 1 tsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp. black peppercorns
• 6 green chillies
• 2 shallots (or 1/2 small onion)
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped lemon grass stems (approximately 2 stems)
• 2 tbsp. thinly sliced galangal (or ginger)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped coriander stems
• 2 ½ tsp. fish sauce
• 2 tsp. grated lime zest
• ¼ cup coriander leaves
• 3 tsp. water

For the curry

• 350 grams boneless skinless chicken breast
• ½ medium eggplant ( or 2 Thai eggplants)
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1 cup chicken stock (1 cube dissolved in 1 cup water)
• 1 ¾ coconut milk
• 3 tsp. fish sauce
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• ¼ cup Thai basil leaves (or basil leaves)
• ½ lime juice
• ¼ tsp. salt

Instructions:

1. Heat a pan and add the coriander, cumin and black peppercorns. Roast for a few minutes until they sizzle and pop. Remove from heat.
2. Thinly slice the green chillies, shallots (or onion), lemongrass, galangal (or ginger), garlic and coriander stems. Zest the lime.
3. Add all ingredients under curry paste to your grinder and grind to a smooth paste. You can add more water if needed.
4. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Cut the eggplant into 1 cm slices. Cut the bell pepper into approximately 1 ½ inch cubes.
5. Heat oil in a large pot and add the curry paste. Fry for a 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat or until the paste loses most of its water content.
6. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar and kaffir lime leaves. Then bring the mixture to a simmer.
7. Add the chicken, and let the curry simmer gently for around 7 minutes.
8. Then add the eggplant and the bell pepper, stir to combine and let the curry cook gently for another 7 minutes. At this point the chicken must be cooked through and the eggplants must be soft.
9. Add the basil and lime juice. Give it one final mix and switch off the stove. Do a taste test and add salt as needed. We added ¼ tsp.