Thai Green Curry Chicken
Alongside Pad Thai, Green Curry is the most popular of all Thai dishes. There are numerous ways to make it - each Thai cook has his or her own method and list of ingredients. Ive been working on mine for years, trying everything from packaged green curry pastes to switching out the coconut milk for other liquid ingredients. What Ive come up with is the following homemade recipe, which tastes very much like some of the best green curries I enjoyed in Thailand. This is a creamy curry without being too high in calories due to the use of evaporated milk (a tip I learned from a Thai chef). Give it a try!
Alongside Pad Thai, Green Curry is the most popular of all Thai dishes. There are numerous ways to make it - each Thai cook has his or her own method and list of ingredients. Ive been working on mine for years, trying everything from packaged green curry pastes to switching out the coconut milk for other liquid ingredients. What Ive come up with is the following homemade recipe, which tastes very much like some of the best green curries I enjoyed in Thailand. This is a creamy curry without being too high in calories due to the use of evaporated milk (a tip I learned from a Thai chef). Give it a try!
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 lb. chicken breast/thigh (.460 kg.) skinless chicken breast/thigh, chopped into bite-size
- 1 cup chopped asparagus or green beans
- 1 handful cherry tomatoes
- 2 whole kaffir lime leaves optional
- 3/4 can (12 oz) coconut milk
- 1/2 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup fresh thai basil or sweet basil
- green curry paste:
- 1 stalk lemongrass thinly sliced, or 3 tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass (available
- 1 green chilies (jalapeno work well if you can't find thai green chilies)
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 1 thumb-size piece galangal or ginger sliced
- 1 cup chopped coriander/cilantro leaves & stems
- 1/2 cup basil fresh
- 1/2 tsp. ground white pepper (available in most supermarket spice aisles or asian food stores
- 3 tbsp. fish sauce
- 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1/4 can coconut milk
- Carbohydrate 16.2949433394754 g
- Cholesterol 24.7500786518294 mg
- Fat 13.6257255317355 g
- Fiber 1.01350001776218 g
- Protein 8.0701479087911 g
- Saturated Fat 10.0746094129643 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (252g)
- Sodium 1140.79963319857 mg
- Sugar 15.2814433217132 g
- Trans Fat 0.793600361413047 g
- Calories 211 calories
Step-by-step
- Step 1: Prepare the Lemongrass. Remove any tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and cut off the bulb. Thinly slice the lower half of the stalk (the upper half can be discarded OR cut into long segments and added to the curry for extra flavor). Chop the slices with your knife to mince, or pound with pestle & mortar. Time-saving Tip: Instead of using fresh lemongrass, substitue 3 Tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass (available in Asian food stores).
- Place your prepared lemongrass in a food processor or blender. Also add: garlic, chilies, shallot, galangal or ginger, fresh coriander, ground coriander, ground cumin, white pepper, fish sauce, shrimp paste, lime juice, sugar, and 1/4 cup of the coconut milk (reserve the rest for later). Blitz well to create a fragrant green curry paste. (If using a blender, add more coconut milk to blend ingredients, up to 1/2 can as necessary)
- Set aside.
- Place a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add a little oil and swirl around, then add your green curry paste. Stir-fry 1 minute to release the fragrance.
- Add the chicken. Stir-fry until well saturated with sauce.
- Add 1/2 can evaporated milk, plus the lime leaves (if using). Stir and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer chicken 5-6 minutes.
- Add 1/3 to 1/2 can coconut milk, plus the green vegetables (except basil) and continue simmering another 3-4 minutes.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and simmer 2-3 more minutes. Avoid over-cooking - you want the tomatoes to keep their shape and the green vegetables to retain some of their crispness.
- Remove curry from heat and taste-test it for salt and spice. If not salty or flavorful enough, add 1 more Tbsp. fish sauce. If too salty for your taste, add another squeeze of lime juice. If too spicy, OR if you'd like more sauce, add what is remaining of your can of coconut milk. If you'd like it sweeter, add a little more sugar.
- Serve directly out of the wok, or transfer to a serving bowl. Sprinkle over the fresh basil (slice larger leaves into shreds). Sliced red chili can also be used as a topping, or to add more spice (as shown). Serve with plenty of Thai jasmine rice, and ENJOY!
- For a lighter green curry (lactose-free version): Simply substitute chicken stock for the evaporated milk. Add a little more lime juice when taste-testing (to balance out the saltiness), as needed.
Is it salvageable if the sauce breaks and separates into an oily slick before the chicken even cooks through? This happens when the pan is too hot during the initial fry of the homemade paste, destroying the volatile aromatics before they can emulsify with the coconut cream. Keeping the heat at medium rather than roaring high prevents the dairy and coconut solids from scorching while still driving off the raw moisture of the lemongrass and galangal. When building the base in a wok, thoroughly mincing fibrous stalks like lemongrass is non-negotiable unless a heavy-duty food processor is available to pulverize those woody strands completely.
Modifying this dish for dairy restrictions requires more than simply omitting the evaporated milk called for in standard variations. Substituting unswweetened chicken stock at a one-to-one ratio for the dairy maintains the proper liquid volume needed to simmer the proteins, though it strips away the velvety mouthfeel that canned milk provides. Compensating for that lost richness involves gently simmering the remaining coconut milk down by a quarter before introducing the vegetables. Without that slight reduction step, thinner stocks make the final sauce watery and prone to pooling unsatisfactorily at the bottom of the serving bowl.
Controlling texture across multiple distinct ingredient additions demands strict adherence to sequential timing rather than guesswork. Dense green beans or asparagus require a full three to four minutes of gentle bubbling to soften their cellular walls, whereas cherry tomatoes collapse into mush if exposed to heat for longer than two hundred seconds. Pulling the pan off the burner immediately after the final three-minute tomato simmer preserves the structural integrity of both components, yielding crisp-tender stems alongside intact fruit skins. Tossing fresh basil in right at the end prevents the delicate leaves from turning black and bitter under residual heat.
Balancing the final seasoning relies entirely on understanding how fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar interact on the palate after reduction. Adding an extra tablespoon of fish sauce rectifies blandness only if the salt has had at least sixty seconds to meld with the hot fats of the coconut milk. Storing leftovers safely means cooling the curry within two hours and transferring it to an airtight container for up to three days in the refrigerator. Reheating should happen slowly over low heat to prevent the chicken proteins from tightening into rubbery strips.
