Green Curry - Thai

prep time:: Less than 30 min
total time:: 30 min

Makes 4 servings

Susie Hafner sent me this recipe which she found on the internet and it immediately became a family favorite. I was later to find out that she had not even tried it and then asked ME for the recipe after coming for dinner.

ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp green curry paste (according to taste)
1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
1-2 thick stalks lemongrass, fat ends bashed with a rolling pin
750g/1 1/2lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
6-8 kaffir lime leaves (if unavailable, use the grated zest of 1 lime)
400ml/14fl oz coconut milk (add more if the sauce gets too thick)
good shake of Thai fish sauce
small handful of coriander, roughly chopped
1/2-1 lime, juice only

directions

1
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add the green curry paste and sugar and cook over a fairly high heat for about a minute, stirring with the lemongrass. Reduce the heat slightly and stir in the chicken pieces and lime leaves or zest until coated in the paste. Add the coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer, cooking for 10-15 minutes until thickened slightly. Stir in the coriander and lime juice. Check for seasoning, adding more fish sauce and lime juice if needed. I remove the lemongrass and kaffir leaves before serving.
2
Serve with lots of fragrant Thai jasmine rice.

Variations

1
At first I followed this recipe to the letter, but as I got more comfortable with it, I stated making my own variations.
2
The Migros has a package for Tom Kha Gai Soup that contains all the fresh ingredients needed as well as baby corn and red chili peppers. I add the baby corn, a tiny bit of red chili pepper (being careful to avoid any of the seeds), as well as snow peas sliced in half.
3
I sometimes use a pre-packaged mixture of fresh stir fry vegetables (Chinese cabbage, bean sprouts, broccoli florets, snow/sugar peas, carrot pieces, etc) which I find at the Coop.
4
For a wonderful vegetarian meal, forget the chicken or substitute giant shrimp!