Green Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Keow Wan Gai)
A homemade green curry paste fried in cracked coconut cream, with chicken thigh, Thai aubergines and a fistful of Thai basil.
- Region
- Central Thailand
- Condiments
- Fish Sauce, Shrimp Paste, Palm Sugar
- Vegetables
- Lemongrass, Galangal, Makrut Lime, Thai Basil, Bird’s Eye Chilli, Coriander Root, Thai Eggplant, Pea Eggplant, Thai Shallots, Garlic
- Fruits
- Coconut
Ingredients
- Paste: 15 green bird’s eye chillies and 3 long green chillies, chopped
- Paste: 2 stalks lemongrass, tender part only, finely sliced
- Paste: 2 cm galangal, peeled and finely chopped
- Paste: 4 small shallots and 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- Paste: 2 coriander roots (or a small handful of stems), chopped
- Paste: zest of 1 makrut lime
- Paste: 1 tsp coriander seeds and ½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- Paste: ½ tsp white peppercorns, ground
- Paste: 1 tsp shrimp paste (kapi) and ½ tsp salt
- 500 g boneless chicken thighs, sliced into bite-size pieces
- 400 ml coconut cream (the thick part from the top of the can)
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 4 Thai round aubergines, quartered, and a handful of pea aubergines
- 4 makrut lime leaves, torn
- 1½–2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 large handful Thai basil leaves
- 1 long red chilli, sliced diagonally, to garnish
- Jasmine rice, to serve
Instructions
Green curry is the sweetest of the Thai curries in name (wan means sweet), but it should taste mainly of fresh green chilli, lemongrass and basil, with only a gentle sweetness in the background.
A homemade paste makes the biggest difference. If you use a bought paste, fry it the same way and add a little extra fresh lemongrass and makrut lime leaf to wake it up.
Method
- Make the paste: pound the salt, chillies and lemongrass in a heavy mortar until broken down. Add the galangal, coriander root and lime zest, then the shallots and garlic, pounding each addition to a paste before adding the next. Finish with the ground spices and shrimp paste. (A small blender works too; add a splash of water.)
- Heat half the coconut cream in a wok or heavy pan over medium heat, stirring, until it bubbles hard and the oil starts to separate, about 5 minutes. This “cracking” of the cream is what gives the curry its shine.
- Add 4 heaped tbsp of the paste and fry in the split cream for 3–4 minutes, stirring constantly, until very fragrant and a shade darker. Freeze any leftover paste.
- Add the chicken and stir to coat in the paste. Cook for 2 minutes until the outside is no longer pink.
- Pour in the coconut milk and the rest of the cream, add the aubergines and half the lime leaves, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10–12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the aubergines are tender.
- Season with fish sauce and palm sugar. Taste: it should be hot, salty and fragrant with a soft sweetness. Adjust.
- Turn off the heat, stir in the Thai basil and remaining lime leaves, and let it sit for a minute. Serve with jasmine rice, garnished with sliced red chilli.
Cook’s tips
- Don’t boil the curry hard after adding the coconut milk; a gentle simmer keeps it silky rather than grainy.
- Swap the chicken for prawns (add them in the last 3 minutes) or firm fish balls.
Aroy Mak Mak
Aroy Mak Mak is a small team writing about the food of Thailand and its neighbours: recipes you can cook at home, guides to the ingredients behind them, and places worth travelling for. The name means "very delicious" in Thai. Every recipe on the site lists its ingredients, timings and method in full, explains the techniques that matter, and suggests substitutes for ingredients that are hard to find outside Thailand. The guides to regions, condiments, vegetables and fruits explain what things are, how they are used and how to buy and store them. Place pages are researched from current sources, including the latest Michelin Guide Thailand, official websites and maps, and give addresses, opening hours and what to order. Where a detail could not be confirmed, it is left out rather than guessed.