Overview

I love The How to Cook the Perfect series and Felicty Cloake’s trial and test approach to recipe research and comparison. Completely Perfect : 120 Essential Recipes for Every Cook is often one of the first books I reach for if I’m making something or thinking about messing with an existing recipe.

This green curry recipe is much punchier in terms of chili than the previous Nigel Slater version.

Ingredients

For the paste

  • 20 bird’s eye chillies
  • 1 tbsp chopped galangal
  • 3 tbsp chopped lemongrass
  • 1 tsp makrut (aka kaffir) lime zest, or 2 tsp finely minced makrut lime leaves
  • 1 tsp chopped coriander root, or 10 tsp pounded coriander stems
  • 1 tsp chopped red turmeric
  • 2 tbsp chopped shallots
  • 2 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tsp shrimp paste
  • Ground white pepper and salt

(Or alternatively use 4 tbsp of good quality bought paste see Notes for additional paste recommendations.)

For the curry:

  • 5 tbsp coconut cream
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • ½ tsp palm sugar
  • 180ml chicken or vegetable stock
  • 180g chopped chicken, seafood, pork or tofu
  • 100g pea aubergines or chopped purple aubergines
  • 2 makrut lime leaves, shredded
  • 3 red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
  • Handful of Thai basil leaves

Method

  1. Pound the paste ingredients one by one in a pestle and mortar, making sure each is well incorporated before adding the next. You can use a food processor, but you won’t get quite such good results.

  2. Heat the coconut cream in a small saucepan, and allow to come to the boil. Once it has reduced and begun to split, add 4 tbsp curry paste and mix, stirring continuously until aromatic – taste to see whether the spices are cooked.

  3. Add the fish sauce and sugar to taste, pour in the stock and bring back to the boil, then put in the meat or tofu, and the aubergines. Simmer until cooked through, then stir in the lime leaves, red chilli and basil leaves. Stir in a little more coconut cream if it’s too spicy, and serve with jasmine rice.

Notes

Chicken thigh is tastier than breast, and more resistant to overcooking. Buy bone-in thighs, bone them yourself and chuck the bones into a freezer bag for stock.

Serve with sticky jasmine rice. Or coconut jasmine rice.

Felicity Cloak recommends Thai Taste’s green curry paste if you want a shortcut.

Pailin’s Thai Kitchen is another great source of Thai food recommendations although with more of a US market slant. She has a curry paste taste-off here and either Mae Ploy or Aroy-D (which appears to be out-of-stock at most UK outlets) came out as the best options.

References