Help with thai green curry

[tarannau]

It's piss easy Pootle - fry paste, add coconut milk and then slide ingredients in. Throw coriander on top for added professional looking effect.

You can worry about the finer points later on. All you'll need to do is find a large enough supermarket that'll sell the Thai paste.

 

[tarannau]

depends on which bleedin' region of india you're talking about. curry based dishes are made the same way whether its in the northern part of india of Bangkok. I'm talking of the method of cooking vs. the ingredients.

Er no, they're not. And if you think Thais and Indians use near identical methods of cooking then you'd be sadly mistaken. Hell, fights have been know to start in Thailand over the right way to cook rice.

Have a read of David Thompson excellent background to Thai cooking - it's a fascinating tome, albeit with jaw-dropping lists of ingredients and a unbreakable commitment to authenticity.

 

[Pieface]

Tarannau - would Wing Thai on Electric Ave sell it?

 

[beeboo]

I've even got those big tubs of thai paste in supermarkets. Any half way decent sized supermarket will stock it in some form or another.

It's possibly the easiest thing in the world. I don't even count it as cooking - it's the kind of thing I rustle up when I come back from the pub.

DO IT POOTLE!

 

[Pieface]

Hmm...this thread is making me think that thai green curry IS a challenge for my little flumpy cooking abilities.

Maybe something to try at the weekend (and when I can get to an oriental supermarket - which was a top tip...)

it's not! I made a really good paste using your kitchen blender thingy once too! You could so do it

 

[tarannau]

Tarannau - would Wing Thai on Electric Ave sell it?

Most definitely, including the Mae Ploy brand that there's a pic of on this thread.

Sells pea aubergines and thai basil in there too. The latter's amazing in stir fries and as a last minute addition to green curries. And galangal too, which can give a great colour to curries.

 

[Pieface]

there you go Pootle /\/\/\/\

you know Electric Ave? Wing Thai's on there and it sells all this sort of stuff and if you don't know where it is - ask them and they help you!

 

[tarannau]

The pastes are over the freezer section in the middle of the store.

You can also pick up a bag of frozen (kaffir) lime leaves in there too. And dried shrimps and shrimp paste are on offer too. Mmmm...

 

[rutabowa]

You can also pick up a bag of frozen (kaffir) lime leaves in there too.

i got a load of the dried ones are they any good? i can never tell if they've actually added anything to the flavour.

 

[pootle]

Hee hee at people's faith in me! Ta! people!

Will have a crack at it this weekend and enlist the boy's help as he's been wanting to scope out Wing Tai for a while now...

 

[beeboo]

i got a load of the dried ones are they any good? i can never tell if they've actually added anything to the flavour.

Yeah, it's a bit like bay leaves - you stick em in and you never quite know if there was any point in it.

 

[Detroit City]

Er no, they're not. And if you think Thais and Indians use near identical methods of cooking then you'd be sadly mistaken. Hell, fights have been know to start in Thailand over the right way to cook rice.

And you don't think fights start in india over how to cook rice

Tell me what two world cuisines are closer in nature than Thai and Indian...

 

[Pieface]

The pastes are over the freezer section in the middle of the store.

You can also pick up a bag of frozen (kaffir) lime leaves in there too. And dried shrimps and shrimp paste are on offer too. Mmmm...

actually the old guy in there asked me what I was making the first time I went in for green curry stuff and then just went and got me the lot - lime leaves, thai basil, galangal, lemongrass Was good job he did or I would have been in there a lot longer....

 

[tarannau]

And you don't think fights start in india over how to cook rice

Tell me what two world cuisines are closer in nature than Thai and Indian...

Scottish and English
Irish and English
Norweigan and other Scandies/Nordics
Portuguese and Spanish

And that's just off the top of my head. To be honest there's such a huge difference between the way Thai meals are generally ooked and served compared to Indian food - look at the balance of a typical meal and they way it's balanced and served for a start - that I can't really believe you seriously believe they're that similar. Just because they both curries are a popularised part of both cuisines in Westernised takeaways and restaurants doesn't make them similar.

 

[beeboo]

mmm I'm having left over green curry RIGHT NOW

 

[fractionMan]

And you don't think fights start in india over how to cook rice

Tell me what two world cuisines are closer in nature than Thai and Indian...

Lao and Vietnamese cuisine are both closer to Thai than indian. Chinese too.

Thai food isn't all coconut based curries you know!

 

[rutabowa]

Yeah, it's a bit like bay leaves - you stick em in and you never quite know if there was any point in it.

it feels like proper cooking, though, when you have to fish out bits of twig from what you made.

 

[rutabowa]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curry
curry is something of a meaningless term anyway... or at least is so broad and subjective as to be almost meaningless.

 

[Xanadu]

this is your friend

That's the one I've used and like!

 

[beeboo]

it feels like proper cooking, though, when you have to fish out bits of twig from what you made.

I'm just sitting next a bowl that is empty of curry save for three bits of tree I've picked out and put on the side.

 

[Xanadu]

And you don't think fights start in india over how to cook rice

Tell me what two world cuisines are closer in nature than Thai and Indian...

English and Indian.

Chicken Tikka Masala... indian
balti.... indian
ice cream.... indian
toad in the hole... indian







Anyways, who taught you how to cook indian food? Whoever it was deserves a slap.

 

[johnnymarrsbars]

You can get this one... http://www.thai-taste.co.uk/brochure/currypaste.php in sainsburys, tesco and waitrose.

Honestly, don't bother making your own it's a pain in the arse and the paste is better.

ive made a curry based on that tonight, it was well nice

 

[Rosco]

I've always bought and cooked jar sauces but I'm tempted with this so for two large hungry people have I got this right

1 large table spoon of thai curry paste fried in pan for a couple of mins?
1 carton/tin of coconut milk (How big a tin or carton tho?)
3 chicken breasts sliced up and cooked within the paste and milk
1 sliced onion?
2 plates!

 

[*Miss*Sparkle*]

I would add some more veggies to that - some peppers or baby sweetcorn to give it some colour and crunch (but then again I don't eat meat so probably not the best person to advise you!)

1 normal size tin of coconut milk should be fine.

 

[beeboo]

Sounds about right Rosco. I'd definitely recommend adding some fish sauce (Nam Pla) if you can get your hands on it - not uncommon in supermarkets - and fresh coriander at the end.

I'd probably ditch the onion, but add some other veggies like Miss Sparkle suggests.


Did pootle ever make her curry I wonder?

 

[Rosco]

Thanks . And yes I normally stuff my (jar) curries with veg.


My first thai curry paste curry last night...........

I quickly marinaded the sliced chicken in fresh lime for about 20 mins. Fried the paste for about 2 mins, chucked the chicken in the pan and after a minute or so I put the one tin of coconut milk in. Threw one sliced onion in and then boiled some rice seperately with a few peas. All seemed to be going fine until after 20 mins or so the curry looked like it is was curdling just slightly .

Tasted nice but not amazing, was it the fresh fresh lime that caused the curdling or does coconut milk just look like that when cooked?

I used that Gwan Kow stuff from Sainsburys mentioned earlier in tihs thread. Looked everywhere for fish sauce but no luck down here in rainy cold West Kent.

 

[fractionMan]

Not enough paste by the sounds of it.

Never marinated in lime, so I can't comment on that.

 

[Sweaty Betty]

I use the paste, but i jazz it up with fish sauce , lemon grass , and coriander and garlic!!

 

[beeboo]

More paste will make it taste more strongly, or extra ingredients (fish sauce, coriander, lemongrass) will add to the complexity of the taste.

Boiling too hard makes the coconut milk separate/curdle. I sometimes add lime to coconut dishes, but usually towards the end of cooking.

 

[sojourner]

My preferred veg are courgette or aubergine, never onion

Agree with the pastes suggestion - never used a decent shop bought sauce yet