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A typical Thai green curry has a distinctive consistency – most obviously, it is much thinner than East Asian curries. The main ingredients of the curry paste are fresh aromatic Thai herbs and spicy fresh chillies.
Green Chicken Curry
Serves 4
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g ready-made green curry paste
a pinch of salt
500ml coconut milk
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut horizontally through the middle, then cut into 5mm-thick slices
30g pea aubergines
2 Thai aubergines, each cut into 4 wedges
½-1 Thai red chilli, sliced diagonally, to taste
½-1 Thai green chilli, sliced diagonally, to taste
5 kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp fish sauce
30g palm sugar or light soft brown sugar
8 Thai basil leaves or regular basil leaves
Method
Heat a large wok or heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the oil and stir in the green curry paste and salt. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then add half of the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes, until the oil floats to the top and the sauce turns green in colour.
Add the chicken, pea aubergines, Thai aubergines, both types of chilli and the kaffir lime leaves and cook for 1 minute, stirring regularly. Stir in the remaining coconut milk and 4 tbsp of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and stir in the fish sauce and sugar and simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.
Remove the curry from the heat and add the basil. Serve in individual portions, or in one or two large serving bowls for everyone to help themselves, with jasmine rice on the side.
Extracted from Bangkok Thai: The Busaba Cookbook (Sphere, approx €29). Photography © Ape Inc 2018.