THAI GREEN CHICKEN CURRY

• servings: 3-4
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 x 400ml can of coconut milk

handful of fresh basil leaves

handful of fresh coriander, chopped

2 tsp coriander seeds

3 long red or green chillies, halved and deseeded

2 garlic cloves

2 lemon grass stalks, outer leaves removed and white part roughly chopped

5 spring onions, trimmed and sliced into short lengths

25g chunk of fresh root ginger, peeled ánd chopped

6 kaffir lime leaves (dried or fresh)

large bunch of fresh coriander, trimmed

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)

1 tbsp demerara sugar flaked sea salt freshly ground black pepper

Directions

First make the curry paste. Put the coriander seeds in a small pan and place over a high heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes until they begin to release their delicious spicy aroma, giving the pan a good shake now and again. Tip the seeds into a pestle and mortar and pound until they are crushed to a powder.

Transfer the crushed coriander to a food processor and add the chillies, garlic, lemon grass, spring onions, ginger, lime leaves, coriander, fish sauce and sugar. Blitz until all the ingredients are very finely chopped and form a thick paste. You may need to push the mixture down a couple of times with a spatula. Season with a good pinch of salt and plenty of ground black pepper and whizz for a few seconds more.

Cut each chicken thigh into 6 pieces. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok and stir-fry the chicken for 1-2 minutes over a medium-high heat until it is no longer pink. Add the curry paste and cook with the chicken for 2-3 minutes more. Pour over the coconut milk, bring to a simmer and cook for 4 minutes. Check that the chicken is cooked through, but don't let it overcook.

Stir in the basil and coriander leaves and ladle the curry into bowls. Serve with some freshly cooked jasmine rice.

Notes

We knore you can buy ready-made green curry paste, but our home-made version is a million miles aray from shop-bought and unequalled in freshness and flavour. Fish sauce or nam pla is an important ingredient in Thai curries and it's essential for that authentic taste. It's easy to find in supermarkets nore so be sure to add it to your larder. This recipe makes a fairly mild curry, but if you like your curries spicier, add one or tro extra chillies. Serves 3-4