The Origin: Thailand
The cuisine
The Thai Green Curry is one of the signature dishes of Thailand and it is a very popular culinary export of this country. Green curry known as kaeng khiao wan in Thailand got its name from the color of the dish. The curry dishes in Thailand are identified by their colors. Judging by the hotness quotient, Green curries are as hot as red curries, but the green curry has got a definite sweetness, which is lacking in red curries. The word Kaeng is used in Thailand to refer several dishes including ones which are sometime described as soups or broths by the westerners.
The Thai Green Curry which you will get in Thailand is far different from the Green Curry which is served in several restaurants across the world. Khiao means green in Thai and wan is sweet in Thai. The combination of these three words means sweet green curry. The Thai Green Curry can be prepared using many ingredients, but most popular choices are chicken, beef and pork. A green curry with chicken is known as kaeng khiao wan kai in Thai. The Thai green curry tastes best when eaten with rice or with round rice noodles. Thai people use lots of spices and herbs to prepare the Green Curry.
Ingredients
300 grams chicken
Three spoon of green curry paste
Half egg plant. You can cut this into bite-sized
One cup of coconut cream
One and half cup of coconut milk
1/4 cup of sweet basil
Two kaffir lime leaves
One spoon of sugar
One and half spoon of fish sauce
One spoon of cooking oil
One shreddedred spur chilli. This is used for garnish
300 ml of water
Salt as per requirement
Process
Here is the process to cook a vegetarian version of the curry using soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
1. Put the ingredients under green curry paste and grind it. Make sure that it is not put in a very fine paste.
2. Take the drained tofu and cut it into small cubes.
3. After cutting the Tofu cubes, take one spoon of oil and saute the Tofu in it. Use a paper towel to absorb the extra oil.
4. Take a big saucepan and add coconut milk tin it. Heat the milk for some time in medium flame. Add the ground curry paste to the milk once it gets hot. Mix it once.
5. Cook the mixture in low flame for 5 to 7 mins.
6. Add the lemon grass and chopped vegetables to the saucepan. Keep it covered for about 5 -10 minutes. You will find that the vegetables got half cooked but they are still crunchy. Add the water and let it boil.
7. Once the water gets boiled, add soy sauce, salt and basil leaves.
8. Remove the sauce pan from the cooking stove and serve the Green Curry hot with steamed rice or rice noodles.
It is tough to find authentic Thai green curry because there are different interpretations of this cuisine in Thailand itself. Renowned Australian chef, David Thompson, is regarded by many as one of the best Green Curry expert in the world. According to Thompson fresh Thai ingredients should be combined with cooking methods followed in Thailand to prepare best Green Curry.
Why you should try it?
Thai Green Curry is a popular dish which is in demand not in Thailand only but across the globe. This is one of the important reasons why you should try this dish. Besides being a popular and tasty dish, the Thai Green Curry has health benefits as well because the ingredients used in this cuisine are quite healthy. The distribution of energy in this cuisine is quite balanced. The Green Curry contains good proportion of total and saturated fat. Fair amount of Cholesterol is also found in Thai Green Curry, which is also a good source of dietary fiber. This delicious food item also contains Vitamin C and Calcium.