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

Great Guacamole

Every avocado-loving family has their own
version of guacamole

Hiya Beaver!  We seem to be on a Tex-Mex kick here lately. No surprise considering how much you and I both love spicy food. Today I'm thinking about our family's great guacamole recipe, the one that was handed down to me by my mother. This one is different than most guacamole recipes in that it's meant to be a salad, not a dip. Years ago, in our family at least, guacamole salad was served on a salad plate atop a leaf of lettuce and you ate it with a fork. Here's the basic recipe Mom wrote down for me when you and I were newlyweds:

Mom's Great Guacamole

Cut avocados in half, scoop out and mash.  Add one or two spoonfuls of mayonnaise, chopped tomato, onion, celery (optional), a shake of Worcestershire sauce, dab of picante, and cumin to taste.

Now, if you're a novice, this doesn't give you very much to go on, does it? I wasn't much of a salad eater so I tweaked this basic recipe to make it more of a dip to be eaten with tortilla chips. It's been a big hit at parties and tailgates and I don't mind sharing my version. I can't call it Mom's any more since I took out the diced veggies and kicked up the picante.

Great Guacamole

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe avocados
2 - 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 - 3 tablespoons picante sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4-5 drops Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin
pinch salt or to taste
pinch pepper or to taste

Procedure

Cut the avocados in half; remove pits and discard all but one. Scoop the fruit out of the skins, dump it in a bowl, and mash lightly with a fork.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mash or stir until desired consistency. My guacamole comes out fairly smooth due to the mayo, but I make sure to leave a few lumps of avocado goodness. Finally, grab a chip and have a taste. The salt from the chips might be enough flavor enhancement but I usually end up adding salt in the end. Place the guacamole in an airtight container with the reserved pit on top of the mixture (keeps it from turning brown) and refrigerate a few hours before serving.


A dear friend of mine in Fort Wayne asked for this recipe back in 2005 and says she still makes it today, but her family likes a little bit more Tabasco. She writes, "Our favorite little Mexican restaurant does squeeze a lime in theirs when they make it so that might add a nice touch to yours."

The lime really does add a great flavor to guacamole. Good friend Harley makes a divine guacamole that calls for lime. It's the only sour cream-based guacamole I've tasted that I wholeheartedly approve of so I begged him to share it with me, and he did.

Harley's Great Guacamole

Ingredients

3 avocados
1 small tomato, cut into chunks
1 small, sweet onion, finely chopped
3 jalapeno peppers, sliced, seeded, chopped fine
1/2 garlic clove chopped fine
2 small limes, juiced
1/2 cup sour cream

Procedure

Peel the avocados and mash into a bowl.  Add all ingredients and mix well.  

Harley writes, "The sour cream is added last.  I add the amount of sour cream that gives the guacamole the consistency that I want.  Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less."

Finally, previous guest editor Oliver Axtell sent me his own version of Mom's recipe. Though not included in the list of ingredients, he has lime juice in the photo (top) so I assume he adds lime juice. Also, he substituted salad dressing (in the form of Miracle Whip) for the mayo. Oliver writes, "During my 88 years, I have eaten guacamole salad in Dallas, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Reynosa, Guadalajara and Mexico City. In none of those places have I found the guacamole salad any better than that made by this recipe. It is my wife's recipe and is so good that one would think she had Latino blood in her, but such is not the case."

Guacamole Salad serves two.

Great Guacamole Salad

Ingredients

3 large avocados, scooped out into a bowl and lightly mashed

1/2 tablespoon onion, finely chopped (approx. 1/4 onion)

2 tablespoons tomato, chopped (approx. 1/4 tomato)

2 tablespoons celery, finely chopped (approx. 2 stalks)

3 or 4 dashes Tabasco sauce

1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise 

Procedure

Mix all ingredients.  Leave the mixture a bit lumpy.  Refrigerate.

Note:  To chop anything fine, you can't beat the Ulu knife, with its blade curved to fit the concave surface of the thick cutting board.  The Ulu has been used for centuries by the Alaskan Eskimos as an all-purpose cutting tool. -- Oliver

Ulu knife

To our readers: Is your guacamole similar to ours or very different?  We'd love to discuss guacamole with you!  Feel free to comment!