I love a Thai green curry. It’s taken me a while to perfect but I think I have put together a super healthy version that’s full of flavour. Curries are a great way to get extra vegetables into your diet without really noticing, and this one sure piles them up. That being said, feel free to add or leave out any of the vegetables; equally adding in chicken, prawns or tofu would be delicious. Enjoy!
Serves: about 6
Time: about 30 minutes
Ingredients
Paste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
Bunch of fresh coriander (about 25g)
2 shallots, roughly chopped (or 2 spring onions, or ½ an onion)
2 green chillies, roughly chopped (if you like a little more spice you may want to use a red chilli instead)
4 gloves garlic
2 teaspoons galangal paste (I got this from Waitrose but if you can’t find it you can add an extra clove of garlic and a little extra ginger)
2 stalks lemon grass, crushed with the side of a knife and roughly chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves
Thumb sized piece of ginger
Handful of spinach
Generous amounts of salt and pepper
Curry Ingredients
400g tin of coconut milk (make sure it’s full fat as the reduced fat milk splits when cooked for too long)
1 courgette
1 green pepper
2 tablespoons fish sauce (if vegan you can use soy sauce or tamari instead)
2 handfuls of both kale and spinach
100g sugar snap peas (or mange tout)
225g Water Chestnuts
200g Bamboo Shoots
Bunch of fresh coriander
Method
1. Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a pan with no oil until they are slightly golden. The pan should be on a high heat and should only take about 3 minutes. Toss them frequently.
2. Once toasted add them to a blender with all of the other paste ingredients and blend until completely smooth. If it’s struggling to blend, then just add a few splashes of cold water.
3. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a fairly large pan on a high heat. Add the paste and cook until it starts to bubble, then turn down the heat a little and add the coconut milk.
4. Once the liquid starts to bubble, turn down the heat and allow to gently simmer for 3-4 minutes. Stir a few times as it cooks.
5. Cut up the courgette and pepper and add to the liquid. Cook for about 3 minutes (all the vegetables in this curry should still be nice and crunchy so don’t overcook them).
6. Add the kale, spinach and fish sauce (or soy sauce/tamari) and cook for another 3 minutes.
7. Finally, add the sugar snap peas, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots and cook for another couple of minutes. They just need to be warmed through.
8. Chop up as much coriander and you like (I like loads) and stir through before serving with rice.