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Home Chefs' Recipes

Palisa Anderson’s gaeng keow wan gai (Thai green chicken curry)

Drop that takeaway menu. Once you've tried making curry paste from scratch, you'll never look back.
Green curry of chickenKara Rosenlund
6 - 8
1H
1H 20M
2H 20M

“We make this a lot at home when there’s any feasting or celebrating to be done,” says Palisa Anderson of Sydney’s Chat Thai. “It’s still one of the most popular curries at the restaurant, for good reason – it’s as comforting and soothing as any chicken soup, but with a kick and warmth that really invigorates. Always make a big pot, it can be portioned and frozen. For most of these recipes, as in most Thai cooking, you will need a mortar and pestle; it’s probably my most used piece of equipment at home. It’s worth investing in a stone one that can fit at least a litre.”

Ingredients

Green curry paste

Method

1.For curry paste, finely grind spices with a mortar and pestle. Add remaining ingredients in order of toughness with ½ tsp salt, pounding them to a paste (alternatively, blend in a food processor until smooth, but the mortar and pestle will give you better colour and fragrance).
2.Heat lard in a large wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add curry paste and the head of coconut cream skimmed from top of can, and stir until fragrant and oil separates (12-15 minutes). Add coconut milk and simmer over low heat until thickened (30 minutes). Increase heat to high, add chicken and stock, cover with a lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked and flavour deepens (30 minutes). Add fish sauce, seasoning to taste, and stir in palm sugar and remaining coconut cream.
3.Increase heat to medium, then drain eggplant, add to wok, and simmer until tender (5 minutes). Remove from heat, stir in lime leaf, chilli and basil, and serve with rice.

Apple, green and pea eggplant are available from select Asian and Thai grocers. Substitute purple Japanese eggplant. Fermented rice noodles, or kanom jeen, are available from select Asian grocers. Substitute rice or somen noodles. If you have a chilli plant, add some leaves to the curry paste.

Drink suggestion: Rich, textural orange wine. Drink suggestion by Max Allen.

Notes

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