Coriander Chicken Curry

For someone who loves Thai food as much as I do, and who has a nice staple set of Thai recipes it may be kind of surprising to see me make a Thai dish from a cookbook such as Donna Hay's No Time to Cook. Now you'll know we've kind of been working our way through this book so another recipe from it is probably not altogether astounding, but I'm not usually the type of person to take the quick route when cooking Thai, and certainly not with curries. But as Wil was flicking through the book he spotted this recipe, and on closer inspection I realised I had all ingredients on hand and it wouldn't require a trip to Chinatown like my usual Asian cooking adventures do. That and it was quick, like super quick. 

And so I found myself at the kitchen bench late on a Wednesday evening whipping up something that for me was a tasty meal, but for Wil was a little much on his tender stomach that has taken a bit of a beating this week.  I don't find any of the other Thai recipes I have posted to be particularly challenging in technique, but they do require a couple of slightly more hard to find ingredients, and they do take a little prep. They're certainly worth it.  But if it's midweek and you find yourself craving Thai then why not take a teeny shortcut and bring out Donna's Coriander Chicken Curry. It's basically a slightly toned down green curry, and although she keeps it simple with just chicken and green beans, there's nothing stopping you from adding in any of your favourite vegetables or switching out the chicken for whatever protein you have in the fridge.  

I may have been heard to say that this was a "white person's curry" but don't let that discourage you. It is tasty and a great intro to Thai cooking if you're not familiar with it. Or if you're just lazy like me sometimes, then it's great midweek dinner that'll be sure to put smiles on your dining partners' faces.  This recipe is from the 'Some Now Some Later" chapter so it serves for and is ideal for freezing for up to 3 months. We had lunch portions this week and it barely made it past day two.  Enjoy!

1 onion, chopped

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup coriander leaves and 3 cleaned roots

2 tsp fish sauce

4 kaffir lime leaves

4 coarsely chopped long green chilies, or to taste

2 tbsp vegetable oil

8 x 140g chicken thigh fillets, cut into thirds*

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup coconut milk

200g beans, trimmed and halved

Combine onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, fish sauce, lime leaves and chili in a food processor and process to a coarse paste. Heat vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat, add curry paste and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes.  Add chicken and stir to coat in paste. Add stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes. Add beans and simmer for a further 3 minutes.  Serve with jasmine rice.

I used about 500g ish of chicken breast meat, diced