A pseudo Thai dish, for those not loving coconut.
I am a great fan of Thai food, my wife not so much. The problem is the coconut – she hates anything coconut. Coconut milk and coconut oil which are dominant in Thai dishes make them a no go. So, to satisfy my need for Thai, and her hate for coconut, I had to find a different base for the sauce.
I decided to switch the coconut milk for yogurt. For a creamy smooth sauce I use a “greek” style fat yogurt (7%). Using regular fat yogurt creates a sauce full of clumps.
Making the curry paste can be a bit of a hassle, but you can make a large amount of it, divide it into portions and freeze it for later use. Divide into portions fitting the recipe described here for a quick and easy curry whenever you want it.
First here is the recipe for the curry paste.
Equipment
- Food Processor or Blender
Ingredients
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 stalks of lemongrass
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- fresh cilantro
- ~5 cm cube of fresh ginger root [2 inches]
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 green chiles (optional)
Instructions
- Ground all ingredients together in a food processor or blender. Using a blender will give you a smoother paste and the final sauce will have a greener homogenous look to it.
Notes
After making the curry paste (whether far in advance) or just before making the sauce, you can now make the curry.
Ingredients
- ½ kg chicken, cut to cubes or stripes [1 lb]
- 400 gr Greek yogurt (at least 7% fat) [14 oz]
- 1½ cup rice
- 100 gr Green curry paste (see above) [3.5 oz]
- 1 tbsp chicken soup powder
- 100 ml water [3.5 fl oz]
- 3 dried kaffir lime leaves
- 2 tsp corn starch
- canola oil
- roasted cashew nuts
- salt
Instructions
- Sauté the chicken cubes over high heat in canola oil until they brown a bit and are fully cooked. Remove them from the stove.
- In a large saucepan over low heat, combine the curry paste and yogurt. You can place frozen paste directly in the saucepan, no need to thaw beforehand.
- Add the kaffir lime leaves whole.
- Add the chicken stock powder.
- Add the chicken.
- In a cup/bowl mix the water and corn starch until homogenous and add to the sauce slowly while stirring to avoid creating clumps.
- Let the sauce cook on low simmer for around 20 mins. If the sauce becomes too thick add water.
- In the meantime, prepare the rice in the pilaf method (see tips below).
- Serve on rice with crushed roasted cashews on top.
Notes
Tips on making the rice
To make the rice in a pilaf method, you first sauté the rice in oil before adding water.
Wash the rice thoroughly and let it dry (you can wash it in a fine strainer). Heat canola oil over low heat in a small pot and add the rice. In the meantime boil water in a kettle. After a few minutes of sautéing, add the water in a ratio of 1.5-1.75 cups of water for each cup of rice. Add salt and let it cook covered over low heat for 18 minutes.
