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Thai green curry is one of the best known dishes of Thai cuisine. Despite its complex flavours, it is actually quite easy to make at home!
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Green Curry Chicken แกงเขียวหวาน (gaeng keow waan)
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup coconut milk, divided
- 50 g (~3 Tbsp) green curry paste, store bought or homemade (see note)
- 1 cup chicken stock, unsalted
- 1 lb chicken thigh, boneless, skinless, cut into 1-inch pieces (if using chicken breast, see note)
- 2 Tbsp palm sugar, finely chopped (can substitute brown or granulated sugar, see note)
- 1½ - 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 3-4 kaffir lime leaves, roughly torn
- 1½ cup bamboo shoots, canned (can use sliced or strips)
- 1 cup Thai basil
- 1 spur chilies or ¼ red bell pepper, julienned
- Jasmine rice for serving
Homemade Green Curry Paste (watch the video here)
(This makes 4-5 Tbsp, probably more than you need for this amount of curry, but you can add more for extra spiciness is desired. The paste can also be frozen.)
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp white peppercorns
- 15 green Thai chilies
- 1 tsp salt
- 15 Thai basil leaves, finely julienned
- 3 Tbsp lemongrass, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp galangal, finely chopped
- 2 tsp kaffir lime zest, finely chopped (or sub lime zest)
- 2 tsp cilantro roots, finely chopped, or 2 Tbsp cilantro stems, finely chopped
- 3 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
- 2 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (gapi)
Instructions
- Reduce ¾ cup coconut milk until thick and coconut oil starts to separate from the coconut milk (if the oil doesn’t separate after it has reduced until very thick, it's okay, just proceed with the recipe).
- Add curry paste and sauté, stirring constantly over medium heat for about 2 minutes until aromatic. If paste sticks to the bottom of the pan, you can deglaze with a little bit of the remaining coconut milk.
- Add chicken thigh and stir to mix with the paste. (See below if using chicken breast).
- Add kaffir lime leaves, chicken stock, remaining 1 cup of coconut milk, palm sugar and 1 Tbsp fish sauce. Bring to a simmer and let simmer gently for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken is fork tender.
- Once the curry is done simmering, add bamboo shoots and bring to a boil. If you prefer your peppers to be more cooked, add them at this stage. Once boiling, remove from heat.
- Taste and add more fish sauce and/or sugar as needed.
- Stir in Thai basil and spur chilies or bell peppers.
- Serve with jasmine rice
If using chicken breast:
- After sautéing the curry paste, add kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, chicken stock, palm sugar and 1 Tbsp fish sauce; bring to a boil over high heat.
- Add chicken breast and cook until chicken is about 70% done, about a minute. Add bamboo shoots and bring to a boil. If you prefer your peppers to be more cooked, add them at this stage. Once boiling, remove from heat.
- Taste and add more fish sauce and/or sugar as needed.
- Stir in Thai basil and spur chilies or bell peppers.
- Serve with jasmine rice.
For the Curry Paste
-
Toast coriander seeds by adding them to a dry sauté pan and stir constantly over medium-high heat until the seeds are aromatic and slightly darkened, about 4 minutes. Cool on a plate. Repeat with the cumin seeds.
-
Using a mortar and pestle, grind toasted coriander seeds, toasted cumin seeds, and white peppercorns into a fine powder. Remove from mortar and set aside.
- Cut at least 8 green Thai chilies in half horizontally and, with a paring knife, scrape off and discard the seeds and pith, then finely chop along with the remaining chilies. Note: The seeds and pith are removed from some of the chilies to tone down the heat, you can remove seeds from all of the green chilies if you wish to tone it down even more
- Add chopped chilies and salt to a heavy-duty mortar and pestle; pound into a fine paste. If the mixture feels too wet at any point, add some of the ground spices to absorb the liquid.
- Add basil leaves; pound into a fine paste.
- Add lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, and cilantro roots; pound into a fine paste.
- Add shallots, garlic, and any remaining ground spices; pound into a fine paste.
- Add shrimp paste and pound to mix.
Notes
- When using store bought curry paste, the saltiness and spiciness can vary greatly between brands. I would suggest starting out with about 50g (~3 Tbsp) of paste, and you can always add more after.
- If using chicken breasts, marinate in 2 tsp fish sauce while you prep other ingredients
- If subbing granulated or brown sugar, start with just 2 tsp and taste and adjust from there.
Laura Jessup
I usually use Maesri curry paste, but want to start making my own. However, I don't have access to fresh galangal. Do you think dried chunks or powdered galangal would work well? Or is it better to use store bought if I can't find some of the fresh ingredients?
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Adam The HTK Intern
Hi Laura! If you can't find fresh look for frozen? If you can't find frozen though it's still worth trying. 🙂 Good luck!
Christina | Christina's Cucina
Have made this a few times and love it! Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Neha Perry
Very tasty! Thanks for sharing a variety of really good recipes.
Farzana
I just made the recipe with beef, mushrooms, eggplants, bamboo shoots, red and green bell peppers served with naan and it was delicious!
Peter
My third or forth time making it, and it is always good! I usually use my remaining curry paste to make your green curry fried rice recipe, which is so good!
★★★★★
Marianne
If I want to cut the chicken, do you have any tips for making it super flavourful without it?
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Kayla
Tofu is a great alternative!
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Momo
My partner and I LOVED this recipe, thanks so much! I am now trying to make this recipe for his mother, but she has extreme soy and shellfish allergies and is extremely intolerant to spiciness (even too much paprika can be too spicy for her!). Is this soy-free? Do you have any recommendations for how I can reduce the spice level even further in a paste? Maybe use more Thai basil instead? I know it will no longer be very authentic, but I’d love for her to be able to try her first homemade Asian dish since she’s convinced she’ll never be able to with her allergies. 🙁
Daniel
Enjoyed it a lot. I sometimes marinate chicken in fish sauce.
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Heike from Germany
The best i ever had. so delicious, and not to spicy. Thanks xxx
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Phoebe
This was incredible!! I make curry fairly often for myself, but I always know it's not going to be as good as I get in a restaurant, but this IS! 11/10
sherri williams
I love curry, I am so glad Hot Thai Kitchen how to do it right with the curry dishes, very good..
★★★★★
Ian
I really love this dish!! It was also the first curry paste i'd ever made from scratch. I've made it a couple times with shrimp and chicken, have subbed Thai basil with holy basil (really great and beautiful), and have made w/Chinese eggplant and each time it was great. Probably my favorite of Pai's curries.
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Matt
Absolutely the best! I have made this multiple times and it never fails. Tonight we substituted the chicken with pan fried scallops and threw them in with the chiles at the end. A killer secret tip...if Thai Basil is too hard to find, substitute it with fresh Tarragon leaves and use half of what the recipe calls for in Thai Basil. We made a double recipe of the sauce tonight and will add cream and salt & pepper to the leftover sauce to make green curry soup for a New Year’s Eve starter. Happy 2021!
★★★★★
Brooke
Any suggestions on how to make this extra spicy like the restaurants do - we love heat but can’t seem to find the right spice to make the Asian dishes hot with the right flavor?
Dee
Sorry I meant substitute Fish sauce not Soy sauce .
Dee D
This is the first time that I made green curry because I love to eat pad Thai or green curry when we go to Thai restaurant . My husband and I love it when I followed your recipe the first time . I haven't tried to make pad Thai yet since I need to buy tamarind . Can you tell me what to substitute " soy sauce " with if I want to make vegetarian green curry ? I only know salt can be used instead . Is there anything else to use besides salt ? that does not change the delicious taste of green curry ? I will attend a pot luck at a Buddhist Vietnamese temple so I want to introduce them to Thai food . Thanks very much for putting out all those wonderful recipes . I just saw your website recently . I saw that you substitute fish sauce with fermented soybean paste . Will it work well in green curry ? Thanks very much .
Pailin Chongchitnant
Hi Dee! Soy sauce is a great sub for fish sauce. But salt works just fine here too.
Cathy C.
I have made this Thai Green Curry Chicken several times. Everyone I've made it for has loved it! The instructions were easy to follow especially after watching the YT video. Thanks Pai for posting such a great recipe!!
★★★★★
Stephen Chan
This was the very first Pai's Thai curry recipe I tried just because I love green curry, and since then I couldn't stop trying other curry recipes.
★★★★★
Katharina S.
Very tasty! I replaced chicken by eggplant and mushrooms, and it was still very delicious!
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Rita K
Delicious! I've used this recipe 3 times now and it never fails. Used chicken thigh today (used breast before) and I agree its much better.
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