Green Chicken Curry

Chicken dish from Thailand

Ingredients for 4 people:

1 kg chicken breasts
1-3 tablespoons green curry paste
Oil, preferably groundnut oil
¼ ltr. chicken stock
1 stick lemon grass
3 kaffir lime leaves
1 tin coconut milk (400 ml)
250 g mange-touts
5 baby Thai aubergines
1 small packet baby sweetcorn
1 lime
1 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar
Light soy sauce
Fish sauce
Horapha basil

Serve with perfumed Thai rice.

Preparation:

Heat the curry paste in a saucepan with a little oil. 1 tablespoon of paste is sufficient for a mild curry. For those who like it hot, 2 or even 3 tablespoons may be added. Pour in the chicken stock and boil until the sauce has reduced slightly, then add the coconut milk and the kaffir leaves. Halve the stick of lemon grass lengthwise and place in the pan.
Dice the chicken breasts, flash-fry briefly in hot oil and add to the sauce.
Remove the stalks from the baby aubergines and quarter. Add to the sauce immediately, as otherwise they turn brown.
Cut the baby sweetcorn and mange-touts diagonally into bite-sized pieces and add these to the sauce, too.
Season with soy sauce, a little lime juice, sugar and fish sauce (do not be put off by the smell!) and simmer gently on a low heat for about 15 minutes. Remove the lemon grass.
Shortly before serving, mix in a handful of horapha basil leaves.

Bai horapha is a sweet Thai basil with an aniseed-like flavor. It is not added until the very end. Normal basil may be used if horapha is not available, but the dish will then not have the characteristic aroma.

Enjoy your meal.