Thai green chicken curry
40 min · 38 g protein · 471 cals / serving
Fragrant, spicy and fresh: chicken and a generous mix of eggplant, green beans and peppers simmered in light coconut milk with green curry paste, then balanced with fish sauce, lime and a fistful of basil. Served over a modest scoop of jasmine rice to catch the sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 3 tbsp thai curry paste, green
- 1 can (14 oz) light coconut milk
- 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 large eggplant, in 2 cm (3/4-inch) chunks
- 1 1/4 lb chicken breast, in bite-size pieces
- 2 handfuls green beans, trimmed, halved
- 1 red bell pepper, in strips
- 1 zucchini, in half-moons
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 lime, juice
- a big handful fresh basil, Thai basil if you can find it
To serve
- 2/3 cup jasmine rice
- a handful fresh cilantro
Steps
- Start the rice so it is ready with the curry: bring it to a boil in a lidded pot with 1 1/2 times its volume of water, then cook it covered on the lowest heat for 12 minutes and leave it off the heat, lid on, for 10.
- Heat the oil in a wide pot or deep skillet over medium heat. Add the curry paste and fry, stirring, for 1–2 minutes until it smells fragrant. Add a few spoonfuls of the coconut milk (the thick cream from the top of the can, if it has separated) and let it bubble with the paste for a minute.
- Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the broth and bring to a simmer. Add the eggplant and simmer gently for 8 minutes, until it starts to soften.
- Add the chicken, green beans, pepper and zucchini and simmer 7–8 minutes more, until the vegetables are just tender and the chicken is cooked through and reads 165°F. Keep it at a gentle bubble; a hard boil toughens breast meat.
- Off the heat, season with the fish sauce, sugar and lime juice, then taste: it should be hot, salty, a little sweet and sour all at once, so adjust any of the three. Stir in the basil leaves and serve in bowls over the rice, topped with cilantro.
Good to know
How hot will it be?
That depends entirely on your curry paste; brands vary from gentle to fierce. Start with two tablespoons, taste the sauce once it simmers, and stir in more paste loosened with a little broth if you want more heat.
Why fry the paste first?
Frying blooms the spices and aromatics in the paste, which is what makes a curry taste rounded rather than raw. Two minutes in a little oil, then a minute bubbling with the richest part of the coconut milk, is all it takes.
Can I use chicken thighs?
Yes, and they are a little richer: about 65 instead of 69. Add boneless thighs with the eggplant so they simmer the full 15 minutes, and check they reach 165°F.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 78
- Protein
- (34%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (30%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (37%)
- 7 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 219 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1886 kcal goes into the pot and 2419 g of ingredients comes out as about 2420 g of food: 78 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.