Easy Thai Green Chicken Curry

Name: Easy Thai Green Chicken Curry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 8 Garlic cloves – minced; 5-7 Red Chilies (preferably Thai/Bird’s Eye Chilies), to taste – chopped; 2 Green Chilies (preferably Thai/Bird’s Eye Chilies), to taste – chopped; 6 Baby Corn pieces – halved; 2 medium Russet Potatoes – skinned and diced into bite sized pieces; 1/3 Large Red Chili – deseeded, sliced (reserve half for garnish if desired – optional); 2 Chicken Breasts (about 400g), boneless, skinless – thinly sliced; 2 sprigs Coriander – stems chopped, leaves reserved for garnish; 4 Kaffir Lime Leaves; 1 bunch (a little over 1 cup) Thai Sweet Basil Leaves (reserve a few leaves from the bunch for garnish); 2-4 Thai Dried Red Chilies, to taste (optional); ½ TBLS Chili Oil (optional); 1 TBLS Olive Oil; 1-4 TBLS Thai Green Curry Paste (I use Mae Ploy’s Green Curry Paste); 2 TSP Fish Sauce; 1 (50g) disc Coconut Sugar (you can use 1 TBLS crystalized Coconut or Brown Sugar if you have that on hand instead) – chopped into quarters; ½ – ¾ TBLS ground Thai Red Chili Pepper, to taste (optional); 565ml Coconut Milk (I used 1 large and 1 small can); Reserved coriander leaves; Reserved Thai sweet basil leaves; Reserved large red chili slices (optional); A drizzle of juice from a freshly squeezed lime (optional); Steamed white rice, rice noodles, garlic bread, etc.

by Lavina // posted January 29, 2019

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This Thai Green Chicken Curry is perfect for quick weeknight dinners, super fragrant, and guaranteed to warm you up with its spicy creamy deliciousness! It’s also extremely easy to make and naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. Feel free to customize it and make it vegetarian or with your favorite protein (tofu shrimp, pork, beef, etc.).

Thai Green Chicken Curry in a large deep white serving bowl on top of a round wooden chopping board which is on top of a blue striped kitchen towel. The curry is garnished with coriander, basil leaves, and red chili strips. Bowl of steamed white rice and white soup ladle to the side. Bottle of ice cold beer in the back on top of a chalkboard backdrop.

My name is Lavina, and I am a SERIOUS Thai food addict.

Not kidding in the slightest here, and 👆 is probably an understatement. Especially since not a single week goes by without some sort Thai food in my life – be it takeaway on my day off, or a home-cooked concoction!

I’m obsessed with my current Friday night favorite – Pad Kee Mao Gai (Stir-fried Rice Noodles with Chicken and Holy Basil), and I seriously cannot live without my bi-monthly fix of Khao Pad Krapow Gai (Chicken Fried Rice with Holy Basil)! Not to mention the love affair I have going on with Kor Moo Yang (Thai Grilled Pork Neck). ❤️ My go-to takeaway restaurant here knows my special “extra spicy” customized order by heart and whenever I walk into their restaurant they say, “one grilled pork neck and noodle or rice today?”. 😂

What I love about Thai food is that every single dish is always so aromatic and just bursting with beautiful spicy, sweet, and occasional sour notes! ❤️

One of my absolute favorite Thai dishes is Thai Green Chicken Curry. But I hardly ever order it at restaurants because it’s super easy to make at home. I rather try other dishes that aren’t my speciality while dining out! To be honest, I love all types of Thai curries. Give me creamy spicy Penang curry, bold and bright Red curry, or peanutty cream-y-licious Massaman curry and I’m a happy bunny!

But I have a super soft spot for Thai green curry because of its killer sweet fragrance and the fact that it’s spicier than most other Thai curries. 😍

Thai Green Chicken Curry in a large deep white serving bowl on top of a round wooden chopping board. The curry is garnished with coriander, basil leaves, and red chili strips. Bowl is cut off from the photo from the left side.

WHAT IS THAI GREEN CURRY?

I think anyone that has tried Thai food knows what Thai green curry is. You’ve probably seen it on menus at Thai restaurants and possibly have even ordered it.

But for those who need a little info, it’s a curry that’s spicy and sweet and made with Thai green curry paste. The curry paste gets its green color from cilantro stems and roots as well as green chilies, but it’s also made up of other ingredients such as kaffir lime peel, lemongrass, galangal, coriander seeds, garlic, black peppercorns, and shrimp paste. These ingredients are all smashed together in a mortar with a pestle to form a green curry paste.

Thai Green Chicken Curry in a large black wok on top of a round wooden chopping board which is on top of a blue stripped kitchen towel. The curry is garnished with coriander, basil leaves, and red chili strips. Bowl of steamed white rice on top of a white folden napkin to the side of the wok. Backdrop color is black chalkboard.

Then, the paste is used to make a coconut milk based curry with protein, veggies, herbs and Thai food essentials such as garlic, Thai sweet basil, kaffir lime leaves, coconut/palm sugar, and red bird’s eye chilies.

Today, I’m sharing my own spiced up version of the classic Thai Green Chicken Curry. And it is spectacularly warming, filling, perfectly creamy, and sweet and spicy! ❤️💙💜💛

It’s extremely easy to make and comes together fairly quickly. Once you have all your ingredients prepped and have parboiled the potatoes, all you need to do is add the ingredients at the right time, sauté and stir, and just let the creamy curry simmer away!

A NOTE ON GREEN CURRY PASTE…

Although I’ve made green curry paste from scratch several times before (thanks to some training from Thai cooking classes in Bangkok – 🙏), these days I prefer to use a readymade curry paste because it saves time and works just perfectly fine.

True, paste made from scratch might taste fresher and be more flavorful. But let’s face it, not everyone has the time on busy weeknights to be banging away at a mortar and pestle to first make a paste, and then make a curry for dinner! So jarred curry paste is the route I go with when I want this delicious curry on the table and in my belly pronto. 😋

Front view of Thai Green Chicken Curry in a large deep white serving bowl on top of a round wooden chopping board which is on top of a blue striped kitchen towel. The curry is garnished with coriander, basil leaves, and red chili strips. Bowl of steamed white rice and white soup ladle to the side. Bottle of ice cold beer in the back.

I use Mae Ploy’s Green Curry Paste because I find it to be more flavorful than other brands such as Thai Kitchen and De Siam. I should also add that it’s a bit spicier than most other brands, including the aforementioned two. So if you’re not big on heat, use 1-2 tablespoons of paste first, do a taste test and add more paste if you feel the curry could do with more flavor and/or heat.

14oz jar of Mae Ploy's Green Curry Paste. — May Ploy’s Green Curry Paste

If you have a go-to green curry paste already that you like, feel free to use that instead and let us know in the comments below if you recommend it!

VARIATIONS – PROTEIN & VEGGIES:

What I love about this curry is that it’s totally customizable when it comes to the protein and veggies. Although I’m sharing a version with chicken, you can swap for shrimp, pork or beef, etc. if that’s more your thing.

To make a veg curry, you can also use pan-fried tofu cubes. (I’ve done this and it is seriously YUM 🤤.) Or eliminate the protein all together and just go to town on with all sorts of veggies!👌

I’ve used baby corn and potatoes in my chicken curry here, but you can throw in any of your favorite veggies or just use whatever you happen to have on hand! I’ve made this curry with asparagus, broccoli, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and snow peas in the paste. But those are just some suggestions and the world is truly your oyster when it comes to Thai curries! Feel free to be adventurous and take your pick. 🙌

Aside from the chicken and my veggies of choice in this recipe – baby corn and potatoes – I use all the typical ingredients found in a Thai green curry such as fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, Thai sweet basil, coconut sugar, and of course – coconut milk. In the Thai & Indonesian grocery stall at my local wet market, the coconut sugar comes in 50g discs and is sold in 300g packs (6 discs per pack).

Pack of six 50g discs of Kelapa Mas coconut sugar. — Coconut Sugar

You can substitute with granulated coconut/palm or brown sugar if that’s easier to find or you happen to have it on hand already.

You can find most of the ingredients in this recipe in the Asian aisle of your regular big supermarket. If not, the rest should be available in your local Asian or Thai grocery store.

HOW TO MAKE A COMPLETELY VEGETARIAN THAI GREEN CURRY:

Make sure to use a vegetarian green curry paste as some pastes contain shrimp. Thai Kitchen’s Green Curry Paste is vegan friendly and also gluten-free, but there are several others out there that are too, so make sure to check the ingredients on the back of the jar/bottle. Also, make the curry with either all veggies, or with a combination of vegetables and pan-fried tofu cubes.

For the fish sauce, you have three options:

Eliminate it all together.
Substitute with a 2-3 TSP of low sodium soy sauce. (I’m not veg, but this is my go-to method when I’ve run out of fish sauce! It works like a charm since soy sauce is salty and has an umami factor – two major taste elements of fish sauce.)
Use a vegetarian fish sauce such as Fortuna’s Vegetarian Fish Sauce (Nuoc Mam Chay) – which is made out of seaweed.

CAN I STILL MAKE THIS IF I’M NOT BIG ON SPICY FOOD?

The beauty about Thai curries is that they can be as spicy or mild as you like and you can adjust the amount of chilies based on your preferred heat level. I like my curries to be on the spicier side so my favorites and the usual suspects – Thai Dried Red Chili, chili oil, ground Thai red chili pepper – are included along with the fresh red and green chilies in my spiced up Thai Green Chicken curry. 😉 But they are totally optional so use as much or as little as you like. Or don’t include the spicy ingredients at all if that works better for you.

Also, Thai Kitchen’s Green Curry Paste and De Siam’s Thai Green Curry Paste are milder than Mae Ploy’s Green Curry Paste – so you can opt to use either of the first two instead. 😊

Silver spoon holding up a bite of Thai Green Chicken Curry above a large white serving bowl with the rest of the curry.

Serve this curry with some warm steamed white rice, rice noodles, or soak it all up with some buttery garlic bread. ❤️

Prepare to have your mind and mouth transported to spice-tastic Thailand and enjoy my friends! 🤗

Overhead view of a silver spoon holding up a bite of Thai Green Chicken Curry above a large white serving bowl with the rest of the curry.

MORE THAI FAVORITES

Long Pin - Photo 1: Thai Green Chicken Curry in a large deep white serving bowl on top of a round wooden chopping board. The curry is garnished with coriander, basil leaves, and red chili strips. Bowl is cut off from the photo from the left side. Photo 2: Thai Green Chicken Curry in a large deep white serving bowl on top of a round wooden chopping board which is on top of a blue striped kitchen towel. The curry is garnished with coriander, basil leaves, and red chili strips. Bowl of steamed white rice and white soup ladle to the side. Bottle of ice cold beer in the back on top of a chalkboard backdrop.

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posted by Lavina on January 29, 2019