curry me green with an inebriating imbibe

June 19, 2006 8:24 PM

what is a fantastic recipe for green curry (more specifics inside)

I am looking at feeding between 8 - 15 people, bonus points for minimal dish usage, minimal ingredients, and extra veggies. Rice is a null problem, rice cooker for the win....

also on adding the category whats a good liquor drink that would add to this meal with a tasty yet inebriating beverage?

posted by sourbrew to food & drink (27 comments total)

No ideas for recipes, but for drinks I would go for either a pilsner beer or a simple tropical drink, like margaritas or daiquiris. A simple, but classical recipe for daiquiris is just lime juice, rum, and sugar, or you can make fancier but excellent daiquiris with pineapple infused rum (see here, Brazilian Infused Daiquiri).
posted by pombe at 9:00 PM on June 19, 2006

As you are on a Thai vibe. Try picking up some Thai beer. Sinha, or Chang.

If you are feeling really adventureous get a bottle of sangsom. Dilute to taste with red-bull and coke.

As for the green curry? This site has some links...
posted by gergtreble at 9:42 PM on June 19, 2006

Are you planning to make the curry paste all by yourself? Or just use curry paste out of a packet? If the former, do you have access to all the exotic ingredients?

If the latter, it's just a matter of frying the paste in some coconut cream, adding fish sauce to taste for saltiness, a touch of palm sugar, thin coconut milk, veggies or meat, and letting it simmer till a thin film of oil forms on the top.

Since I'm feeling too lazy to write down my curry paste recipe, I'll point you to another one. :)
posted by madman at 10:05 PM on June 19, 2006

I would totally go with buying pre-made paste. I use coconut milk instead of thin milk and cream. For a super simple green curry meal, I throw in chicken, a bag of the pre-washed baby spinach, and some cilantro. For the crowd you are talking about, I would make it two bags. While I chop up the spinach a bit, you don't have to. I also use brown sugar instead of palm sugar. My recipe isn't very Thai but it is pretty damn tasty. Note: use dark meat chicken. Breast meat tends to make the entire dish look like the coconut milk has curdled.
posted by Foam Pants at 10:43 PM on June 19, 2006

Lots of very good pre-made curry pastes about these days. Scratch-built requires a lot of ingredients and a fair bit of mucking around — let someone else do the donkey work for you.
posted by Wolof at 12:32 AM on June 20, 2006

The green curry I make is something like:
1 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp oil
5 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 tbsp green curry paste (we buy it in a jar)
a bunch of chopped up fresh basil
2 chicken breasts cut up into chunks

it serves about 4 people. I don't put any veggies in it because my husband is not a vegetable person. We like it so much we won't get green curry from Thai restaurants anymore.
posted by disaster77 at 1:14 AM on June 20, 2006

Taste of Thai brand, Green Curry. Yummy and easy.
Just add chicken and some veggies. I like zucchini in this a lot.
posted by Goofyy at 3:41 AM on June 20, 2006

I second disaster77's recipe, with the following variations:

(1) Coriander (cilantro, I think Americans call it) instead of basil.
(2) Use chicken thigh fillets. They are actually much tastier, and cheaper, than breast fillets.
(3) Throw in some finely sliced carrots, green beans, capsicum (erm..."peppers") and zucchini. Not very thai, I know, but they work well and you wanted vegies.

Start with the curry paste and oil, heat it up until the paste is bubbling. Add the chicken and brown it just a little - 30 seconds - then add the coconut milk and fish sauce. After a couple of minutes, once the chicken has started to look cooked on the outside, throw in the herbs and vegetables, and put a lid on it to simmer.

(4) Use basmati rice. Please. Once it's done, stir in a dob of butter and some more coriander leaves.
(5) Papadums. Get the little 2" onces from the supermarket. Pop them in the microwave for 40 seconds for the really easy, cheat's method of cooking them.
posted by Jimbob at 3:58 AM on June 20, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

The above recipe, and disater77's feeds 2. Multiply as necessary.
posted by Jimbob at 4:00 AM on June 20, 2006

This is a recipe I made up after reading the ingredients of the back of a ready meal:

You need:

*Chicken breasts - a largish one per person
*Lemon grass - I'd say one stalk for every 2-3 people. Sorry if I'm being patronising, but this is what it looks like, and you need to peel an outer layer or two off, remove the white end and discard, and then cut into slices. It took me a while to work out what to do with it.
*Fresh coriander, chopped
*A few green peppers (bell pepper, in case there is an UK/US confusion), chopped into 2x2cm squares
*Coconut milk - I guess you'll want a couple of tins, I used one tin for 3 people.

Cut up the chicken, and fry in a large pan until it is all white on the outside. Add the lemon grass and fry a bit longer. Lower the heat, and slowly pour in some of the coconut milk. Add the green pepper, and then sprinkle in generous handfuls of coriander. Top up the coconut milk if you need to, then the idea is to have it gently simmering - you don't want the coconut milk boiling. Leave for like 40 mins, stirring occasionally, and tasting occasionally as you may need to add some more coriander. Then serve!
posted by Orange Goblin at 4:51 AM on June 20, 2006

I'm making this paste today. Here's the full recipe. (bugmenot)
posted by donpardo at 5:07 AM on June 20, 2006

Orange Goblin: I don't know what you made there, but it certainly isn't curry...
posted by blag at 5:46 AM on June 20, 2006

Well yeah, I guess it didn't have any "heat" to it, but it tasted pretty much like every green curry I've ever had...
posted by Orange Goblin at 5:51 AM on June 20, 2006

I've just come across this company. Curry Simple Green Curry. They're a local Atlanta company, but they're Thai (I've met them at the green market), and they have this sauce made in thailand. It is very authentic (I've been to Thailand twice -- true, I was a tourist both times, but I ate plenty of food on the street) and it's very very good.

It might cost a bit more than what you'll buy in the grocery store, but the results are much more satisfying. All you'll need to do is get some onion, green / red pepper, potatoes, fresh basil, etc., and then stirfry them for a few minutes (potatoes take longer, of course). Then you dump in the curry sauce and simmer for 10-15 mins. You're done. You'll be a hero.

The packets say that they make 9 servings each, which is pretty accurate. My wife and I made half a package and it was too much for 1 dinner.
posted by zpousman at 6:02 AM on June 20, 2006

In my limited experience chardonnay seems to go weirdly well with Thai. blag: dunno, sounds to me like Orange Goblin made a green curry.
posted by methylsalicylate at 6:06 AM on June 20, 2006

Orange Goblin, that is emphatically not green curry (at least not Kaeng Kiow Wahn.) ;)

A green curry paste has...

Lemongrass
Galangal
Coriander root
Garlic
Shalllots
Prik Kee Nu (Thai bird chillies)
Rock salt
Shrimp paste
White pepper
Cumin
Coriander seed
Kaffir Lime Peel

(off the top of my head from making kilos of green curry paste every couple of days. :)

Lemongrass and coconut milk alone won't do it.
posted by madman at 6:27 AM on June 20, 2006 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'm just going to chime in to suggest jasmine rice, not basmati as someone else suggested. I find it a lot more flavourful and less light and disappointing. As for veggies, think about trying snow peas, bamboo shoots, zucchini and lots of bell peppers.

Also, for beverages... definitely beer.
posted by utsutsu at 7:22 AM on June 20, 2006

what madman said: missing the "heat" isn't even half of the problem. Proper green curry has so many layers of subtle flavours that slinging some lemongrass and coriander together and calling it a green curry is tantamount to heresy. Sorry.
posted by blag at 7:23 AM on June 20, 2006

Also, I'm not sure how authentic it is but I like to put whole baby sweetcorn in there. Yum.
posted by blag at 7:28 AM on June 20, 2006

I've been using a Green Curry sauce from a can. It's simple and pretty good tasting too. "Aroy-D"
posted by Hanover Phist at 8:40 AM on June 20, 2006

If you're looking for drink that is thematic, funky, and tasty, try making martini-like drink with some Zen Green Tea Liquer.
posted by GarageWine at 8:46 AM on June 20, 2006

as said by madman 5 tins coconut milk make it the day before it will have more flavor also you could steam veg green beans brockia mushrooms peas etc and serve fresh red green chillies coriander separate good luck
posted by baker dave at 9:03 AM on June 20, 2006

whoops brocolie
posted by baker dave at 9:07 AM on June 20, 2006

Ah well, I claim "student on a budget", and it tastes good enough to me.
posted by Orange Goblin at 9:24 AM on June 20, 2006

Beer is always good with spicy food, as is a nice riesling. A chilled cocktail that I've made to go with pan-asian dishes is unfiltered sake and pear juice. I generally mix it about 1/1. It should be very cold.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:21 AM on June 20, 2006

Matthew Amster-Burton's piece on making Thai curry (from scratch or a juiced-up premade version)
posted by rxrfrx at 10:32 AM on June 20, 2006

thanks people, i will definitely be using the canned paste, as i am teh lazy. That zen green tea liqueur looks tasty but i doubt i can locate any in my neck of the woods. Think i will try to make those Brazilian Infused Daiquiris as I am going for bang.
posted by sourbrew at 4:20 PM on June 20, 2006