Nothing like curry from scratch….cold Sunday afternoon on the Sunshine Coast and deciding to make a curry is not the best time to start hunting for those fresh ingredients missing from the fridge……45 km later got ‘em.
Watch the curry paste could be quite spicy if you put all into the one curry. Use half and if you feel it needs more pow once the liquid is in, fry some more off and add.
Ingredients
60 ml (¼ cup) sunflower oil
400g can coconut milk
500-600g chicken thighs
250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock
8 kaffir lime leaves
2 tbsp fish sauce (this will be to taste so don’t add all at once)
2 tbsp grated palm sugar
100g snow peas or green beans
200g Asian greens
1 bunch Thai basil
350g rice noodles (take your pick of what is in the cupboard)
Green Curry Paste
1 large lemongrass stalk, white part only, bashed and roughly chopped
5 Asian red eschalots, roughly chopped
2 garlic bulbs, cloves peeled
½ kaffir lime or regular lime, juiced and zested
5 cm piece galangal, peeled, chopped
1 tbsp shrimp paste
15 green bird’s-eye chillies chopped (or 6 long green chillies)
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
Garnish
Red chilli thinly sliced
Tips of Thai basil leaves
Bean sprouts (optional)
Instructions
To make curry paste, through everything into a blender, adding enough oil to make a thick paste and blend until smooth 1¼ cups. Depending on the chillies you used and if you left the seeds in, for the curry I use ½ and freeze the rest for another day in a zip locked bag.
Heat oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until fragrant and the oil starts to sit on top of the curry paste.
Increase heat to high, add chicken, stock, coconut milk and lime leaves. Cook covered for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Reduce heat to low, add fish sauce, palm sugar and greens, and simmer for a further 5 minutes or until beans are just tender. Remove from heat, add the basil, stir to combine and remove the lime leaves.
Meanwhile, prepare noodles per packet instruction, Strain. When cool enough to handle, twist portions of noodles into balls and place into bowls.
Serving
Serve green curry with noodles and the bean sprouts, chilli and basil.
