Thai Green Curry
Paste pounded from scratch and cracked in coconut cream until the oil splits out. That one step is the difference between fragrant and flat.
- Prep
- 30m
- Cook
- 25m
- Total
- 55m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Involved
Method
A good jarred paste, refreshed with lemongrass and lime leaf. You lose the top note; you save half an hour of pounding.
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 12 | Pound the paste in this order — hardest first 20m Lemongrass and galangal are fibrous; they need to break down before anything soft joins. | Crack the paste in coconut cream until the oil separates 8m You are frying the paste in coconut fat. Wait for visible green oil pooling at the edge. | Loosen with the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until just tender 12m A bare simmer. Boiled coconut milk separates into oil and grit. | Off the heat, stir through the basil and lime leaf 1m Thai basil collapses in 30 seconds of boiling. Add it once the pan is off the flame. | |
| 3 stalks | |||||
| a 3 cm piece | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 6 cloves | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 200 ml | |||||
| 400 ml | |||||
| 6 | |||||
| 150 g | |||||
| 150 g | |||||
| 150 g | |||||
| 2 tbsp | |||||
| 1 tbsp | |||||
| a large handful | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 1 | |||||
-
Pound the paste in this order — hardest first
20m- green bird's eye chillies 12
- lemongrass 3 stalks
- galangal a 3 cm piece
- coriander roots 4
- shallots 4
- garlic 6 cloves
- kaffir lime zest 1 tsp
- toasted coriander seed 1 tbsp
- toasted cumin seed 1 tsp
- white peppercorns 1 tsp
- salt 1 tsp
Lemongrass and galangal are fibrous; they need to break down before anything soft joins.
-
Crack the paste in coconut cream until the oil separates
8m- from 1 Pound the paste in this order — hardest first
- coconut cream 200 ml
You are frying the paste in coconut fat. Wait for visible green oil pooling at the edge.
-
Loosen with the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until just tender
12m- from 2 Crack the paste in coconut cream until the oil separates
- coconut milk 400 ml
- Thai aubergines 6
- green beans 150 g
- bamboo shoots 150 g
- fried tofu puffs 150 g
- light soy sauce 2 tbsp
- palm sugar 1 tbsp
A bare simmer. Boiled coconut milk separates into oil and grit.
-
Off the heat, stir through the basil and lime leaf
1m- from 3 Loosen with the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until just tender
- Thai basil a large handful
- kaffir lime leaves 4
- red chilli 1
Thai basil collapses in 30 seconds of boiling. Add it once the pan is off the flame.
| 4 tbsp | Fry the paste in coconut cream until the oil separates 6m Jarred paste still needs cracking. Skip this and it tastes raw and metallic. | Add the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until tender 12m | Off the heat, stir through the basil and lime leaf 1m | |
| 200 ml | ||||
| 1 stalk | ||||
| 400 ml | ||||
| 500 g | ||||
| 150 g | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| a large handful | ||||
| 4 | ||||
-
Fry the paste in coconut cream until the oil separates
6m- green curry paste 4 tbsp
- coconut cream 200 ml
- lemongrass 1 stalk
Jarred paste still needs cracking. Skip this and it tastes raw and metallic.
-
Add the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until tender
12m- from 1 Fry the paste in coconut cream until the oil separates
- coconut milk 400 ml
- mixed vegetables 500 g
- fried tofu puffs 150 g
- light soy sauce 2 tbsp
- palm sugar 1 tbsp
-
Off the heat, stir through the basil and lime leaf
1m- from 2 Add the rest of the coconut milk and simmer the vegetables until tender
- Thai basil a large handful
- kaffir lime leaves 4
Why you crack the cream
Coconut cream is an emulsion of fat in water. Held at a hard simmer it breaks, and the fat pools out clear and hot — effectively a small pan of frying oil. Adding the paste at that moment fries it: the fat-soluble aromatics in lemongrass, galangal and lime zest dissolve into the oil and redistribute through the whole curry, and the raw green edge of the chillies and shallots cooks off. Stir paste into cold coconut milk and none of that happens. The curry ends up smelling correct but tasting harsh and one-dimensional.
Notes
- Pound, do not blitz. A processor chops; a pestle ruptures cells and releases oils. If you must use a machine, add a splash of water and go long.
- Tinned coconut milk varies wildly. Buy one with 70 per cent or more coconut extract and do not shake the tin.
- Classically seasoned with fish sauce and often shrimp paste in the curry paste. Soy sauce and a little extra salt cover both.