Green Curry With Chicken

ingredients

Green Curry Paste:
2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt
6 thin slices fresh galangal, chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, peeled and chopped
About 15 cilantro roots, or 1/4 cup coarsely chopped stems
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots, preferably pink
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoon dried shrimp paste
2 teaspoon coarsely chopped, peeled Fresh turmeric or 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
40 fresh small green chilies
2 cups loosely packed fresh sweet Thai basil leaves
Green Curry
2 cups coconut milk
1-2 tbls. vegetable oil (optional)
1/4 cup green curry paste
12 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped eggplant or 3 round Thai eggplants
1/4 cup pea eggplants (optional)
1/2 cup wax beans (optional)
2 tbls. palm sugar (optional)
2 kaffir lime leaves, stemmed
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh sweet Thai basil leaves
2 tbls. fish sauce
1 fresh long green chili, cut into large pieces
1 fresh long red chili, cut into large pieces

directions

1
Green curry paste
2
In a small dry skillet or frying pan over medium heat, separately toast each spice, stirring constantly, until fragrant, no more than 90 seconds. Immediately pour into a mortar or spice grinder. Add salt and grind to a fine powder; reserve.
3
Put all remaining ingredients in a large mortar and pound with a pestle until pulverized, 10-20 minutes. Stir in reserved spices. Or, coarsely chop all ingredients then process in a food processor until pulverized. If necessary, add a small amount of water, 1 teas. at a time.
4
Makes about 1 cup.
5
Let coconut milk stand, allowing the thick coconut milk to rise to the top. Spoon thick coconut milk into a small bowl, and reserve 2 tbls. of this for garnish.
6
In a wok or large, heavy frying pan, heat thick coconut milk over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it separates. If it does not separate, add optional oil. Add green curry paste and fry, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
7
Add chicken and cook until meat is opaque on all sides, 2-3 minutes. Add remaining thin coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the eggplants and beans and simmer for 4 minutes, or until slightly soft. If desired, add palm sugar to taste. Tear kaffir lime leaves and basil into pieces. Stir in fish sauce, lime leaves and half of the basil.
8
Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl. Drizzle over reserved 2 tbls. coconut cream. Garnish with green and red chilies and remaining basil leaves, and serve.

notes

Making your own curry paste allows you to vary the ingredients to suit your taste: you can decrease the quantity of chilies or chili seeds, for example. Also, make sure to wear gloves while handling the chilies.

Source: Thai Cooking