Thai Green Curry with Roasted Coconut and Kaffir Lime
Fragrant, fresh and a little smoky
A good Thai green curry is all about fragrance: lime leaves, basil and fresh chilli singing over creamy coconut. This one adds a Thai trick of toasting desiccated coconut until golden and stirring it in, which brings a nutty, gently smoky warmth. With a generous hit of kaffir lime, it tastes brighter and more aromatic than the usual jar-and-tin version, yet it is just as quick.
Thai Green Curry with Roasted Coconut and Kaffir Lime
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp desiccated coconut
- 600g boneless chicken thighs, sliced
- 3-4 tbsp Thai green curry paste
- 1 tin (400ml) coconut milk
- 200ml chicken stock
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- 6 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 aubergine, cut into chunks (or a handful of pea aubergines)
- 100g green beans, trimmed
- 1 red chilli, sliced
- Handful of Thai basil leaves
- 1 lime, to serve
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Method
- Toast the desiccated coconut in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until deep golden and fragrant. Tip onto a plate immediately so it does not burn.
- Heat a splash of oil in a wok or wide pan. Spoon in the thick cream from the top of the coconut milk tin and fry for 2-3 minutes until it splits and smells sweet.
- Add the curry paste and fry for another 2 minutes until darkened and aromatic.
- Stir in the sliced chicken and turn it to coat in the paste, cooking for 3-4 minutes.
- Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the stock, then add the fish sauce and palm sugar.
- Tear in the kaffir lime leaves and drop in the aubergine. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- Add the green beans and cook for a further 4-5 minutes until just tender.
- Stir in most of the toasted coconut, reserving a little to finish.
- Taste and balance with more fish sauce, sugar or a squeeze of lime as needed.
- Off the heat, stir through the Thai basil and sliced chilli.
- Scatter with the reserved toasted coconut and serve with jasmine rice and lime wedges.
3 The Story
Thai green curry, or gaeng keow wan, is among the best loved dishes of central Thai cooking. Its name translates roughly as sweet green curry, though the sweetness is gentle and relative; the green comes from a vivid paste built on fresh green chillies, lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, shallots and shrimp paste, pounded together until smooth. That fresh, herbal heat sets it apart from the deeper, drier red and Massaman curries.
Coconut is the soul of the sauce. Traditionally, cooks would crack the thick coconut cream first and fry it until the oil separated, a step that carries the paste and blooms its aromatics before any liquid is added. It is worth doing even with tinned milk, as it gives the finished curry a richer, glossier texture. The balance of salty fish sauce, a little palm sugar and the sourness of lime is the trinity that makes the whole thing sing.
The roasted coconut twist nods to a genuine Thai technique. In dishes from the country’s south and north-east, desiccated or freshly grated coconut is dry-roasted until golden and nutty, then pounded or stirred in to add body and a toasty fragrance. Borrowed here, it lends the green curry a subtle smokiness and a pleasant texture without changing its character. Just keep a close eye on the pan, as coconut goes from golden to bitter in moments.
Kaffir lime, more correctly makrut lime, is the other essential. Its glossy double leaves carry an extraordinary citrus perfume that no ordinary lime can replace, and torn into the simmering sauce they release their oils slowly. This recipe is generous with them because they are what makes the curry smell unmistakably Thai. The leaves freeze beautifully, so buy a bag and keep them to hand.
Thai basil, with its aniseed note and purple stems, goes in right at the end so it stays fresh and fragrant. Chicken thighs are ideal for their forgiving juiciness, but the same method welcomes prawns, firm tofu or a mix of vegetables. Serve with plenty of steamed jasmine rice to soak up the sauce, and let everyone squeeze over their own lime.
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