Thai Green Curry with a Twist

This delicious curry made with a homemade green curry paste, chicken, garbanzo beans and an Asian-style frozen vegetable mix is not the most traditional curry out there, but it is a flavourful dish that can be whipped up in a flash. Make the curry paste at your own peril because it will be hard to go back to the store-bought stuff once you have tried this. The heat intensity of this dish depends on the curry paste or green chilies you use, so it can be made hotter or milder. With a few simple changes you can make this vegan.

After the Red Lentil Coconut Curry with Homemade Red Curry Paste (here) it was just a matter of time until I ventured towards the green curry, skipping yellow entirely. Well not entirely, I still make that on occasion. Ever since I ventured into the chili aisle one brave morning I have not looked back. To be fair the chilies I buy are on the mild side, but they can still be plenty hot for me. If you remember my blogpost on Thai Red Curry and an Introduction to Thai Cuisine (here) you would know that green would be the hottest of the curry colours. That probably depends on the kind of chilies you buy, so definitely keep that in mind when following this recipe.

This green curry certainly has the most complex flavour with some heat from the chilies, creaminess from the coconut milk, acidity from the lime juice and freshness from the cilantro, if you happen to be genetically inclined to like that herb. As far as the other ingredients are concerned the garbanzo bean might sound a little strange, but it adds a lovely chewy texture and some protein, making it a little more filling. That is even more important if you wanted to skip the meat/tofu altogether or you are like me and put about a quarter of a chicken breast in it. I am not much of carnivore so I usually revisit these recipes vegan whenever I make them again. This dish goes well with rice, noodles or flatbread. You could also add some bok choy, spinach and kale to this dish to add even more vegetables.

 

Green Curry Paste

Yield: 1 medium sized jar Difficulty: 1/5 Time: 10 min

Ingredients:
• 3-5 green chilies
• 1 green bell pepper (optional)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 bunches of cilantro
• 2-3 spring onions
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground lemon grass (can also use fresh)
• 1 tsp ginger, dried or fresh
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbl olive oil

Instructions:

1. Clean and peel all the vegetables and cut them into a size your food processor can handle. Remove the seeds from the green chilies for a milder curry.
2. Process all the vegetables and herbs until smooth scraping down the sides if necessary.
3. Add the spices and olive oil to the food processor to process again. The olive oil will emulsify with the liquid and salt to create a somewhat thicker paste.
4. Transfer to a jar to keep in the fridge (for about a week) or freeze portions in an ice cube tray which last for up to six weeks.

Thai Green Curry with a Twist

Yield: 4 portions Difficulty: 2/5 Time: 20 min

Ingredients:
• 1 tbl oil
• 200-400 gr cubed chicken, turkey or tofu*
• 1 small can of garbanzo beans, drained
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1 cup Asian-style frozen vegetable mix
• Green curry paste **
• 1 can of coconut milk
• Soy sauce
• Lime juice
• Salt
• Sugar
• Chopped cilantro of parsley (fresh, frozen or dried)

Instructions:

1. Bring the oil to high temperature in a wok-like pan (such as a non-stick) and brown the lightly salted meat or meat alternative.
2. Add the garbanzo beans to the meat and sauté them slightly so they get a chewy texture.
3. Add the spring onions and frozen vegetable mix and sauté until most the water has evaporated.
4. Add and roast the curry paste until it gets a little darker for one to two minutes, then add the coconut milk and let everything come to a boil.
5. Season the curry to taste with soy sauce, lime juice, additional curry powder (if necessary), salt, sugar and herbs. Let it reduce until it has reached the desired consistency.
6. Serve with rice, noodles and/or flatbread (such as naan).

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*To make it vegan you can omit the meat or replace it with tofu. When using tofu you might (you don’t have to) want to brown it slightly and remove it from the pan as you keep cooking the curry so it can retain its texture and not turn soggy. Add it back later to warm through when everything is done.

** How much green curry paste you need depends on what kind of paste you use. A freshly made paste often needs a little more than a store-bought reduced paste. It also depends on how spicy you like your food. When in doubt use less and add a little curry paste or powder when it is almost done to up the flavour a little bit.

Green Curry Paste

Thai Green Curry with a Twist

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So there you have not one but two delicious recipes for a homemade green curry paste and a Thai Green Curry with a Twist. This curry can be whipped up in a flash and predominantly uses pantry ingredients, so it is a great recipe to have on hand. All you need to do make the curry paste with fresh ingredients, freeze it in portions and you are good for a while. Also you have used up all that cilantro that looked great at the grocery store and is on the brink of death the second you unpack it at home. Does that happen to you? I sowed cilantro seeds on the balcony because I was so annoyed by that. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this post and manage to stay healthy. Have a great day. #stayhome