Mom’s Green Curry (Video)

Gaeng Keow Wan Gai (Sweet Green Curry with Chicken)

Is it your Mom’s recipe?  Not quite.  Mom prefers baking to cooking.

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In addition, Thai cuisine falls into Mom’s category of “Mysteriously welcome foods that break the meat-and-potatoes routine.”   

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As a result, she marvels at standard Thai ingredients such as galangal, lemongrass and cilantro root. 

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Mom’s baking affinity comes from her sweet tooth.  So, when she decides to venture into Thai food, Green Curry is the go-to choice.  The literal translation of the Thai name, Gaeng Keow Wan, means “Sweet Green Curry.” 

But isn’t Thai food scorchingly hot?  It can be.  However, when you make your own curry paste, you control what goes in the final product.  Since Mom has acid reflux, spicy foods are out of the question. 

Take a look at the video to see how the dish comes together. 

When making the curry paste, I left out the standard green Thai chiles.  Therefore, the heat was removed while leaving the exotic taste. 

“Oooh, what’s this mysterious vegetable?” 

Serves 4

¼ cup Green Curry Paste (Recipe follows)

2 tablespoons Canola oil

2 cups coconut milk, divided (1/2 cup to begin the curry and 1 1/2 cups to finish.)

1 pound chicken tenders, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 tablespoon palm sugar

3 Kaffir lime leaves, torn in half

Fish sauce to taste

8 Thai eggplants, quartered

Thai Basil leaves and red bell pepper slices for garnish

Jasmine rice

Method:

Heat the canola oil in large sauce pot over medium high heat.  Add the Green Curry paste and stir fry for 2 minutes.  Add ½ cup coconut milk and let simmer for 2 minutes to reduce and thicken slightly.

Add the chicken and remaining coconut milk and reduce the heat to medium low. 

Add the palm sugar, Kaffir lime leaves and fish and simmer for five minutes.  Add the Thai eggplants and simmer for 10 minutes.

Taste and add more palm sugar or fish sauce to suit your taste.

Assembly:

Ladle the Green Curry into a large serving bowl.  Garnish with Thai Basil leaves and red bell pepper slices.

Serve with the Jasmine rice.

1 ½ teaspoons coriander seeds

1 ½ teaspoons cumin seeds

2 tablespoons chopped galangal (Ginger also works if you can’t find galangal.)

2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass

1 tablespoon lime zest

1 tablespoon cilantro root (If you can’t find cilantro root, use cilantro stems)

10 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon shrimp paste

5-15 Green Thai Chiles if you want to add some heat.  Optional, but delicious.

1 cup Thai Basil leaves

3 shallots, sliced

Note:  When using a mortar and pestle, start with the driest ingredients and work up to the wettest ingredients.  Using this method guarantees a uniform paste.

If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, a food processor works fine.  Grind the spices in a coffee grinder before adding them to the processor.  Pre-ground spices work fine, but whole spices have more flavor. 

Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small skillet over low heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes.  Add them to the mortar.

Grind the spices with the pestle until you have a fine powder.

Add the galangal and lemongrass and pound until you have a pasty mixture.

Add the lime zest, cilantro root, garlic, shrimp paste and Thai chiles, if you’re using them.  Keep pounding.

Add the Thai Basil leaves and pound until you have a paste.

Add the shallots and pound until everything achieves a wet paste. 

Place in an airtight container and refrigerate.  Green Curry paste will keep in the refrigerator for a week and and the freezer for 3 months.

Yield:  about ½ cup.

What foods pleasantly surprise your Mom? We’d love to hear your stories in the comments.

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