Thursday, May 28, 2009

Getting to Five a Day

Thai Green Curry with Chicken
and Many Vegetables


There is a small list of things I usually order when I go to a Thai restaurant. The rotation includes pad see ew, some sort of basil and chili stir fry with chicken or shrimp or vegetables, and more rarely, pad thai, spring rolls, or chicken satay. If I order a curry, it is almost always Panang curry. Until yesterday, I had never had green curry!

For this green curry, I followed a recipe in Real Thai, but cut the meat by 1/3 and nearly doubled the vegetables.

Below is a plate of some of the vegetables. Clockwise, there are grape tomatoes, green beans, kaffir lime leaf, Chinese eggplant, and Thai basil. I also added strips of bell pepper and 1 red chee fah chili at the end.


I set the ingredients out on the stove. This made it easier to get everything into the pot.

Here is the finished curry:

The recipe is easy to follow and results in a flavorful, vegetable-rich dish. I think I'll be making more of this curry as the farmer's market starts to have summer squash, green beans, and other vegetables. I ate the green curry for dinner two days in a row and I think it tasted even better the second day. After the eggplant has sat in the curry for awhile, it gets very soft and really absorbs the flavors. Another upside of this curry, at least for some, is that it is not overly spicy.

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Recipes Adapted from Real Thai by Nancie McDermott.

Green Curry with Chicken and Vegetables

2 chicken thighs cut into bit-sized strips
1/2 cup coconut cream
1/4 cup green curry paste (see below)
3 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups diced eggplant
about 20 green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup basil leaves
3 red chee fah chilies or 9 long, thin red pepper strips
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half
12 fresh kaffir lime leaves

Warm the coconut cream over medium heat until it boils gently. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook 6 to 9 minutes, stirring occasionally. When you see tiny pools of oil glistening on the surface, add the curry paste and stir to dissolve into the coconut cream. Cook for 1 to 2 more minutes, until the curry paste has a pleasing aroma.

Add the chicken and stir to coat the pieces so they are all coated, about 1 to 2 minutes. Cook for about 2 minutes more. Increase the heat and add the coconut milk, eggplant, green beans, fish sauce, and sugar. Stir well and then add 6 of the lime leaves. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook 8 to 10 minutes.

When the chicken and vegetables are about done, add the tomatoes. After about one minute, remove from the heat and add the basil leaves, peppers, and remaining 6 lime leaves.

You can serve the curry over rice or noodles.

Green Curry Paste

1 tablespoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
5 peppercorns, freshly ground
3 stalks of lemongrass, edible parts minced
1/4 cup cilantro roots or leaves and stems
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon fresh lime peel
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped garlic
1/2 cup fresh kii noo chilies (Thai chilies)
1 teaspoon shrimp paste

The traditional way to make the curry paste is to use a a mortar and pestle to pound the ingredients together. This results in a moist fragrant paste. As with the red curry a made two weeks ago, I threw everything into the food processor. The recipe makes quite a bit, so I froze the extra in an ice tray to use later.

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