Thai green curry with chicken
Tender chicken and aubergine in a fragrant, moderately hot coconut sauce, finished with Thai basil and served with jasmine rice. Frying the green curry paste in reduced coconut cream gives the sauce its aromatic depth.
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Let’s get cooking.
Cook mode
Scale servings, tick off ingredients, and run step timers without losing your place.
Servings
Originally developed for 4 servings.
Ingredient checklist
Method
- No timer needed
Prepare the ingredients before heating. Pick the basil, prepare the lime leaves, measure the divided fish sauce and sugar, and rinse and thoroughly drain the rice. Open the unshaken coconut milk tins and measure 120 ml thick cream into one jug and the remaining 680 ml milk into another. If there is no cream layer, simply measure out 120 ml milk for reducing. Cut the aubergine, then cut the chicken on a separate board. Do not wash the chicken; wash your hands and clean its board and knife before handling ready-to-eat ingredients.
- 12:00
Put the rice and 450 ml water into the smaller saucepan, unless the packet specifies a different ratio. Bring to the boil. Stir once, cover tightly and turn the heat to its lowest setting. Cook for 12 minutes, or according to the packet, then remove from the heat and rest, still covered, for 10 minutes. Keep covered until serving. While the rice comes to the boil and cooks, begin the curry.
- No timer needed
Heat the reserved 120 ml coconut cream in the wide pan over medium heat, stirring for 3–5 minutes, until thicker and glossy. Small oil droplets may appear, but do not keep reducing indefinitely if stabilised milk does not separate. Add the selected quantity of curry paste and fry, stirring continuously, for 2–3 minutes, until strongly fragrant. Lower the heat if it starts sticking or darkening.
- 05:00
Gradually stir in the remaining 680 ml coconut milk, then add the lime leaves, 15 ml fish sauce and 8 g sugar. Bring just to a gentle simmer. Add the aubergine and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, keeping the bubbling gentle. Remember to take the rice off the heat when its cooking time is up.
- 12:00
Add the chicken and stir to separate the pieces. Let the whole pan return to a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered for 10–15 minutes, stirring occasionally; check at about 12 minutes. The aubergine should yield readily to a fork. Check several of the largest chicken pieces at their centres with a clean thermometer: they must reach 75°C for 30 seconds, or 70°C for 2 minutes. The meat should also be opaque and tender, but appearance alone is not the safety check. Keep the sauce pourable, adding the optional hot water in 25–50 ml increments only if needed. If the chicken is ready before the aubergine, lift it out, finish softening the aubergine, then return the chicken to the simmer.
- No timer needed
Once the chicken is safely cooked, taste the sauce. Add the reserved up to 15 ml fish sauce and up to 4 g sugar gradually, stopping when the curry is savoury with a little rounding sweetness; you may not need all of either. Turn off the heat and fold in the Thai basil. Remove the lime leaves where practical.
- No timer needed
Fluff the rested rice with a fork and divide between four plates or bowls. Ladle the curry alongside and serve promptly.
Chef tips
- The timeline allows a twelve-minute chicken simmer before checking. Continue cooking if the temperature or aubergine tenderness requires it; doneness takes priority over the clock.
- If the sauce is thin after the chicken and aubergine are cooked, lift out the solids and gently reduce the sauce for a few minutes, then return them. Do not reduce a green curry to a thick paste.
- For rice that is still firm with no water remaining, add 30 ml boiling water, cover and cook on low for another 3–5 minutes before resting.
- Chicken breast can replace thigh, cut to the same size. Start checking its temperature earlier to avoid drying it out.
- Sugar cannot reliably fix a curry that is far too salty or hot. Choose the paste quantity cautiously and reserve half the fish sauce for the final tasting.
Equipment check
- Wide 3-litre saucepan or sauté pan, approximately 24–26 cm across
- 2-litre saucepan with a tight-fitting lid
- Two hob rings
- Digital food thermometer
- Scales and measuring jug
- Separate chopping boards for raw chicken and vegetables
- Knife, sieve and heatproof spoon
Tags
Behind the dish.
Overview
This curry aims for tender chicken, aubergine that yields readily without collapsing, and a glossy, pourable sauce. Reduce a little coconut cream before frying the paste, then simmer gently rather than boiling hard. Add Thai basil off the heat to preserve its fragrance.
Ingredient notes
Use ready-made Thai green curry paste, not a curry cooking sauce. Brands differ greatly in heat and salt: start with 30 g for a concentrated, hot paste, 40 g for a typical paste, or up to 60 g for a mild one. Add the reserved fish sauce only after tasting. Full-fat coconut milk with at least 17% fat works best; stabilised milk may thicken without separating into visible oil.
Thai round aubergines keep a firmer bite than ordinary aubergine. Ordinary aubergine is a practical substitute, cut into 3 cm chunks. Frozen makrut lime leaves are suitable; bay leaves are not a substitute. Ordinary basil can replace Thai basil, though it lacks the same anise-like fragrance. Light brown sugar can replace palm sugar.
Allergens: fish sauce contains fish. Curry paste may contain crustaceans, fish, soya or wheat; check both labels and any substitutions. The dish is gluten-free only if all packaged ingredients are confirmed suitable.
Serving & storage
Serve immediately with the jasmine rice. Remove the lime leaves where practical, or explain that they are aromatics rather than something to chew.
Cool leftover curry promptly in shallow portions and refrigerate within 2 hours at 5°C or colder. Use within 48 hours or freeze sooner. Thaw in the fridge and reheat only once, until steaming hot throughout, stirring to eliminate cold spots.
Cool leftover rice as quickly as possible, ideally within 1 hour, refrigerate at 5°C or colder and use within 24 hours. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout.
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