A Favorite Recipe: Thai Green Curry with Chicken

Ingredients
3 tablespoons green curry paste (store bought is fine)
1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
4 oz palm sugar
½ cup fish sauce
½ cup tamarind water*
4 kaffir lime leaf
8 oz coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
1 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced
Handful of snow peas or corn
½ lb grape tomatoes
4 Thai eggplant

Preparation method

1. Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the curry paste and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.


2. Add the palm sugar and fish sauce, then cook until thick and bubbling. Add the tamarind water, kaffir lime leaf, coconut milk and stock. Bring back to a boil and reduce to a simmer.


3. Add the chicken and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomato and eggplant and cook for 5 minutes.


4. Check the consistency as it needs to resemble a soup not a thick curry, adjust by adding extra stock if need be.

*Tamarind water can be made by using either a jar of tamarind paste mixed in equal parts with water or by soaking a block of tamarind in 4 cups warm water, removing the seeds and straining, keeping the tamarind water for later use.

TIP: Try adding a stalk of lemon grass and a knob of galangal to the soup before adding any meat or vegetables, simmering for 10 minutes to infuse the flavor. Remember to top up with stock or water to keep it of soup consistency.