Sunday, June 12, 2011

Thai Green Curry ala Nikki

Thai Green Curry ala Nikki.....yummmm....served with rice or rice noodles.
My mother Nicole is a Siamese cat, therefore I'm half Siamese. (Does that explain the blue eyes?) Anyway, being Siamese also means I'm partial to Thai food.

You must know that Thai cuisine is more than just Tom Yum or Patprik. There's also the curries - red, green, panang and massaman. My favourite is green curry with loads of lime leaves. I just love the balance of hot, sour, salty and sweet of it. The aroma of kaffir lime leaves and lime juice just give it that extra "kick". You can make the curry with meat, fish or seafood. My favourite is chicken - just the thigh fillet....*drool*

We made this for lunch yesterday. The aroma just enveloped the whole house and made my tummy growl non-stop until lunch time. We also grilled some mackerel....but that's another story.
Here's the recipe we used. It's the classic green curry recipe but of course tweaked here and there to suit my palate.

First, gather all the ingredients. It's a long list of exotic Asian stuff but just pay a visit to Chinatown or Vietnamese shops in your area. They should have most of the ingredients.

We made the paste from scratch using the ingredients. Slice them up and then plonk them in the food processor or blender, grind until fine. In the old days, the chefs would use stone mortar to make this paste:

4 cloves garlic (we used smoked garlic)
1 red onion
1 cup fresh coriander - root, stem and leaves
12 kaffir lime leaves - deveined
1 thumb (human thumb not my paw) sized galangal
10 Thai bird chili (this gives about the right degree of spiciness, you can lessen or add)
2 stalks lemongrass
1 teaspoonful shrimp paste
All (almost) of the ingredients for the dish.....the small green round stuff at the top are pea eggplants.
This is how galangal looks like. Also available bottled in brine or dried. We use the fresh one, of course.
Next step, prepare rest of ingredients:
2 cloves garlic - sliced finely
4 kaffir lime leaves - deveined and sliced finely
1 cup pea eggplants - separate stem from fruit
1 cup coconut milk - we used powdered with 1 cup water
2 tablespoonful fish sauce (nampla)
1 pound boneless chicken thigh fillet cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoonful cooking oil
2 tablespoonful lime juice - freshly squeezed from three limes
1 teaspoonful brown or palm sugar - or to taste
2 cups basil leaves - any kinds, Thai, sweet, Italian, as long as not the red ones
I just looove the fragrance of kaffir lime leaves.....hmmmm.....
Aaah...the smell of garlic in hot oil.....the tummy goes rumble rumble...
Now, start cooking. Use a medium-sized pot or wok. We used an aluminium pot.
1. Heat oil in pot. Stir fry garlic until fragrant.
2. Next, pour in green curry paste. Lower the heat so it didn't get burnt.
3. Mix in fish sauce and stir. Let simmer.
Green curry paste happily simmering in pot.
4. Now, add in the chicken pieces, stir to let paste coat the chicken. Let simmer until chicken is cooked.
The chicken happily simmering with paste in pot. Ahh...what a merry combination.
5. Throw in pea eggplants, let simmer until soft. This is optional as it's not widely available. You can substitute with any eggplant (diced) or even snake beans. I've eaten green curry using both pea eggplants and snake beans.
Freshly squeezed lime is the best. Or you can also use the commercial bottled ones. Never ever substitute with lemon.
6. Mix in lime juice and coconut milk. Also sugar. Adjust according to your taste.
Useful tip: Don't wash blender after using it to make the paste. Instead, pour in coconut milk powder and water in there. Blend and it will mix with the paste left over. No waste.
7. Last but not least, separate basil leaves from stems, wash and add into curry. Remove from heat and serve with rice or rice noodles.
A pot of happiness on a Saturday afternoon.
Beautiful basil leaves....we used to plant this in Sydney as it was expensive.

Nikki's note: Burp!!!! meoww....Nikki

28 comments:

Oskar said...

What a pawsome cooking lesson!

Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar

CATachresis said...

Yummy !!! :D

Katnip Lounge said...

I'm dying of hunger this looks SO good!

Trish xx

Mr Puddy said...

My mom love Thai Green Curry too : )

mokja said...

Dell : sedapnya .Nanti nak suruk mamason cuba.Pandai pula Nikki masak ya.

Quill and Greyson said...

Mom's a big fan of green curry!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Oskar dear,
It's pawesome to eat too. meoww...Nikki

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Austin,
Come eat with me. meoww...Nikki

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Katnip Lounger aka Aunty Trish,
This takes only half an hour to make. meoww...Nikki

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Mr Puddy,
Insist that she cooks some for you too. meoww....Nikki

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Dell,
Mamason bawak ole-ole tak dari Kuantan? meoww...Nikki

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Fin dear,
Now she can cook for you as well. meoww....Nikki

CS said...

CAT
I seram tengok bahan yang meriah tu. Ask your Mama to sell TGC paste to us all. I sure buy one :-)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty CS,
Hmm....interesting how Asian cooking almost always use heaps of ingredients, eh? My Mama said coz in the old days takde fridge so need to camouflage meat or fish with spices and herbs. Betul ke? OK, beli jangan tak beli. Ours don't have MSG tau! meoww...Nikki

Lili said...

Nikki, you cook too? Wow, the curry is ...... E P I C! ;)

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Lili,
Awesome, isn't it? meoww...Nikki

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Oh Nikki your mom is such a good cook. I think we have all the ingredient especially galangal that we bought yesterday to make rendang ayam. Nanti mau cuba-cuba.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

MKG dear,
I wonder if you have pea eggplant in your garden. Or else you can always dice any eggplant you have. Try the recipe and tell me what you think. meoww...Nikki

jul said...

great recipe and must be from a great chef...yummeow....

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Jul,
You've been cooking up a storm too. meoww....Nikki

Monyet King said...

what a coincidence... I just had thom ka (soup) for dinner. no greenn curry though.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Your Royal Monyetness,
Try dipping pisang in green curry gravy....yummm.... meoww...Nikki

zool said...

Look delicious. I want some ..

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Hie Zool,
Welcome to my crazy feline world. meoww...Nikki

Sandy said...

Slightly different from Tante Sandy's recipe ^_^, I put 4-5 huge green chili, I take out the seeds so it won't be unbearably spicy, and then grind them away... it makes the curry greener ^^

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Tante Sandy,
The spicier the yummier....we prefer cabe rawit than the large chilies. meoww...Nikki

one of Fae's humans said...

oh i'm soooo jealous! i wish i could have some, but i'm too lazy to go all the way to chinatown and get all the ingredients. :( i'll have to try some at my local Thai restaurants!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Fae's human,
You'll be surprised at what you could find at your neighbourhood Coles and Woolies! Or yeah...ask for green curry at the local Thai restaurant. There are a few we quite like down at Coolangatta. meoww....Nikki