Thai Green Chicken Curry

This is one of the easiest curries i have ever made. Considering that it was my first time with a Thai dish, this one turned out pretty awesome. It goes well with Jasmine flavoured rice, but we had it with just plain rice and it sure was good enough. You can make this with any meat, sea food, meat and seafood and as a vegetarian dish.. You more or less can decide what goes into it.

Chicken Breasts- 500 gms cut into bite cubes

Bell Pepper- 1 medium size chopped lengthwise(any colour)

Onion/ Shallots- 1/4 cup

Spring onions- 1/4 cup (optional)

Green chillies- 2 slit lengthwise

Thai green curry paste (any brand, store-bought)- 3 tsp (heaps)

Ginger paste- 1 tsp

Garlic paste- 2 tsp

Coriander pwd- 1 tbs

Chilli pwd- 1 tsp (can substitute with Chilli sauce as well)

Fish sauce- 2 tbs

Dark Soy sauce- 1 tsp (or 1 tbs of the regular soy sauce)

Coconut milk- 1 can

Coriander leaves- chopped fine, to garnish

Oil- 2 tbs

Salt- to taste

In a large wok, heat the oil and sautee onions and peppers till soft. Add the ginger and garlic paste, coriander pwd and chilli pwd to this and mix well. In goes the cleaned chicken pieces and once they become light brown, add the Thai green curry paste. Sautee for a few minutes and then add the sauces (fish and soy sauce and if using chilli sauce, that too at this stage) and salt and make sure the entire chicken is covered in this mix. In goes the coconut milk, simmer till the meat is cooked through. I left it on low heat for quite sometime so that the gravy and coconut milk flavour will nicely be infused into the chicken pieces. Add the green chillies and keep stirring once in a while. Just before you take the curry off the flame, sprinkle the spring onions and give one final stir and when you serve it, garnish with coriander leaves. I think the coriander leaves add that extra taste and flavour to the whole meal, try not to avoid that. Ro however got mad seeing the 'leaves' and managed to remove quite a bit of it.

If you do not have the store bought Thai Green Curry Paste, here is a recipe i found online.

Green chillies- 3 chopped

Garlic cloves- 2 minced or approx tsp of paste

Lemon grass stalks- 1, sliced

Kaffir lime leaves- 6

Shallots- 3 finely chopped

Coriander leaves- a handful

Ginger- 1 inch piece finely grated

Peeled rind of half a lime

Coriander pwd- 2 tsp

Cumin seeds- 1/2 tsp

Shrimp paste- 1 tsp (optional)

Pepper- 1 tsp

Salt- to taste

Oil- 1/2 tsp or more if desired

Blend all the ingredients together till it forms a thick paste and voila you have your Thai green curry paste. If you have leftover, after using the desired amount in your curry, you can transfer it into a jar and store in the refrigerator for future use. It is an added task to make the paste, but an easy one if you can find all the ingredients.

Notes: You can throw in beans, corn, carrots, peas, potatoes, broccoli, egg plant or any othergreen vegetable you fancy. Paneer is also a good substitute for meat i guess

The entire dish is made uncovered.

If you have the Thai green curry paste and coconut milk, the desired taste will be achieved no matter what.