Thai Style Green Curry

Green Chicken Curry

Hiya Ormond!  While you were busy making Stuffed Poblano Peppers -- and boy do they look good -- I was puttering around in cookbooks and recipe files to research an old favorite of mine, Thai green curry.

The first time I tasted a coconut milk-based curry was when our daughter-in-law, Crystal, made something called Basil Chicken in Coconut-Curry Sauce (recipe here). A nice, light curry dish, it's full of all the right flavors and not too overpowering. I loved it so much I begged for the recipe so I could enjoy it again.

Jasmine rice is traditionally served with green curry.

Then you came across The Hairy Bikers' Great Curries cookbook. Their Thai Green Chicken Curry is quite similar to Crystal's recipe. I wanted to try it for comparison, but when I made it the first time, the hack-job I did on the lemongrass (never having worked with it before) caused the dish to have a lot of hairy threads, a texture I despised. Also I overcooked it which sort of separated the coconut milk. Although it tasted fine it just didn't come out right and I was disappointed.

Roasted coriander seeds and lemongrass, key ingredients in green curry.

I like the way the Bikers make a curry paste from the onions and peppers, adding in important ingredients like kaffir lime leaves and nam pla, so I decided to base my own recipe on their basic construction, adding in some bits from Crystal's recipe. In the end I did what I always do: modify it to suit the stuff I have on hand.

Thickening the coconut milk with cornstarch makes a creamy consistency.

I found some cute little lemongrass stalks to work with this time. That greatly improved things for me.  In addition I bought a little container of chopped, partially dried cilantro which saved me having to trim an entire bunch.  I saved some more time with other shortcut ingredients, substituting squirts from the ginger and garlic tubes for the real deal, and using Thai basil leaves out of the jar.

Fluffy jasmine rice cooked to perfection.

From Crystal's recipe I pulled the jalapeno peppers, mainly because I had them on hand, and a very important finishing detail which, in my opinion, made the curry better than the Bikers' version. Whisking in cornstarch to the coconut milk before adding it to the pot created a thick, creamy sauce that clung to the chicken and rice.  The Bikers' recipe comes out way too soupy for my taste. I used Success brand Boil-in-Bag Jasmine Rice and it came out perfect.

Each fleck is a different exotic flavor.

So here's my recipe!

Thai Style Green Curry

Serves 3 - 4

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, fat removed and cut up into 1" pieces

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 14-oz. can light coconut milk

1 Tablespoon cornstarch

For curry paste:

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

2 large jalapeno peppers, halved and seeded

1 teaspoon minced chunky garlic, squeezed from tube

3 little lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed and tender center roughly chopped

5 green onions, trimmed and sliced into short lengths

1 teaspoon minced ginger, squeezed from tube
1 teaspoon Thai basil leaves

6 kaffir lime leaves (fresh or dried; I used dried)

large bunch of fresh cilantro, trimmed (I used 1 container chopped, lightly dried cilantro)

1 Tablespoon nam pla (Thai fish sauce)

1 Tablespoon demerara sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Procedure

Cut up the chicken and set aside.

Make the curry paste: Put the coriander seeds in a small pan and place over high heat. Shaking the pan from time to time, cook for 1-2 minutes until they give off a nice aroma. Crush them into a rough powder using a mortar and pestle.

Transfer the crushed coriander to a food processor and add the jalapenos, garlic, lemon grass, green onions, ginger, Thai basil leaves, lime leaves, cilantro, fish sauce and sugar.  Blitz until all ingredients are combined into a thick paste, pushing the mixture down the sides of the bowl if needed.  Add the salt and pepper and blitz once more.

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and stir-fry the chicken over medium-high heat until it is no longer pink.  Add the curry paste and let it simmer with the chicken about 3 minutes.

Pour the coconut milk into a large measuring cup and add 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, whisking to combine.  Pour over the chicken curry mixture and simmer gently about 4 minutes, being sure not to overcook it.

Ladle the curry into bowls and serve with jasmine rice.  You can sprinkle some fresh basil and cilantro leaves over the top as an optional garnish.

Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice

Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Hi Bonnie, I haven't posted in a while, but I have a great new dish.  Stuffed Poblano Peppers.  It is a very easy dish, but it is not quick.

Here are the ingredients.

Less than six ingredients for Stuffed Poblano Peppers.

One lb. ground beef
Four poblano peppers
Zatarain's Dirty Rice Mix
Pace Original picante sauce (I like medium)
Monterrey jack cheese

The first step is to make the Dirty Rice with the ground beef according to the instructions on the box.  When it is almost done, steam the peppers for four minutes.  Longer makes the peppers mushy.  I use a steamer basket in a sauce pan, putting in the peppers with a lid on when the water is boiling.  Here are the steamed peppers and Dirty Rice.

Dirty Rice and steamed poblano peppers.

The peppers are sliced in half with seeds and stems removed.

Chunks of Monterrey jack cheese are placed on each pepper half.

Then fill each of the peppers with a heaping mound of Dirty Rice and spoon some picante sauce on top.

Stuffed poblano peppers ready to bake.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Cover peppers with foil before baking.

When it's done, take out of the oven and serve.

Baked and ready to eat!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers are great fresh from the oven and even better the next day.

This recipe can be made with bell peppers as well.

Bell Peppers also work well with this recipe, but steam them longer since they are larger.