THAI GREEN CURRY…inspired by RED!

It’s nice to be inspired by colour, & it’s sometimes amazing the wonders it can work on your food. Saw this month that Click was back, & the theme for the month is RED. Everywhere I looked I saw red. The tomatoes sang to me, the red chilies called my name, & the bell peppers enticed me no end. Of course I couldn’t resist picking up some yellow peppers too, but have to say, ‘there’s something about RED’!!

Red has more personal associations than any other color. Recognized as a stimulant red is inherently exciting and the amount of red is directly related to the level of energy perceived. Red draws attention and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element.This picture above is my entry CLICK: January 2009 (Red) @ Jugalbandi

Am sure you are wondering what an elephant has to do with the curry! Actually it is my association with Thailand. In the early nineties, I used to go to Bangkok often with my bunch of gal pals from work. We often stayed at the YWCA, & invariably spent every night gallavanting the night bazaars for nick nacks, silver etc. This is an opium pipe I picked up on one such trip. The intricacy of workmanship & the detailing intrigued me no end. I am still charmed by this piece every time I look at it! On a relatively free morning, I clicked with the peppers for a while, & then decided it was time to put the red bell pepper to better use. Red reminds me of curries, hot & finger-licking good curries, but this time I had a Thai Green Curry on my mind. There are curries, & then, there are more curries. Curry is a word that has become synonymous with Indian food. It is said to be India’s culinary export to the UK, which is fast becoming the curry capital of the world. For a really welcome change, there is Thai curry – red, as well as green. My sis from Houston had sent me a recommended recipe a while ago, & I couldn’t wait to get started. This Thai curry recipe came ‘tried & tested’, with substitutions for fish sauce, because the sis knows pretty well I’ll never use fish sauce. It was everything it promised to be…& more! A green curry from scratch, as hot or as mild as you like it, with the option of spicing it up with some bottled green curry paste. The boy said it was nice, the daughter cannot stand coconut & didn’t take to it … but we, the adults, loved it. Next time I intend to add more veggies (more baby corn, & maybe mushrooms), or make a veggie/cottage cheese (or tofu) version. Try Thai for a change…

Thai Food and Cooking by Judy BastyraIn the cooks words …” Virtually every Thai cook has their own recipe for curry pastes, which are traditionally made by pounding the ingredients in a mortar with a pestle. Using a food processor or blender just makes the task less laborious.”

THAI GREEN CHICKEN CURRY
as adapted from Thai Cooking and Food by Judy Bastyra
Ingredients:
Green Onions – 4, with 4-5″ stalks; roughly chopped
Coriander – 1 bunch
Ginger – 1″ piece
Garlic – 4 cloves
Green chillies -1-2
Coconut Milk – 400ml
Worcestershire sauce – 1 tsp (as a substitute for fish sauce)
Chicken tenders – 1/2kg; cut into bite sized pieces (or tofu/firm cottage cheese)
Thai green curry paste – 1 tsp, optional
Red bell pepper – 1; diced
Baby corn – 8-10; sliced 1/2″ diagonal pieces
Green pepper/capsicum – 1; sliced
Green onions -2-3; sliced diagonally
Kafir limes leaves – 2-3, crushed (I used 2-3 leaves off my lime tree)
Lemon grass stalk, bruised (or zest of a lemon)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper to taste Method:

• Grind the first 5 ingredients with 2-3 tbsps of water to make the green curry paste, & reserve in a bowl.
• Heat 2-3 tbsps in a pan, & saute chicken till brown. Remove from pan, & keep warm in a bowl.
• In the remaining oil, add the veggies & stir fry on high for 3-4 minutes, followed by the green curry paste (both, if using bottled paste too). Stir fry again for 3-4 minutes.
• Add reserved browned chicken, Worcestershire sauce, kafir lime leaves & coconut milk, & season with salt & pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, & simmer for 10-15 minutes, until curry thickens. Adjust seasoning if required.
• Add the lime juice & serve hot over steamed rice. I didn’t have Thai jasmine rice, but it tasted great over steamed basmati too!

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