Thai Green Curry with Fish Balls

Thai Green Curry with Fish Balls

Recipe only

The complex, deep flavors found in all Thai curries (kaeng), are due not to long, slow cooking times, but to careful preparation of curry pastes. Dry spices and fresh seasonings are lovingly pounded together in a pestle and mortar for at least 15-20 minutes to create an intensely flavored and aromatic paste, crushed smooth, bound with shrimp paste, then cooked in coconut cream to give Thai curries their distinctively sweet and pungent character.

INGREDIENTS

350 g fresh, firm white fish fillets, roughly chopped

60 ml coconut cream

2 tablespoons green curry paste (see below)

440 ml coconut milk

350 g mixed Thai eggplants, quartered, and pea eggplants

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons palm sugar

50 g galangal, sliced

3 kaffir lime leaves, torn in half

A good handful of Thai basil, for garnish

1 long red chili, seeded and sliced, for garnish

METHOD

Green curry paste

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

8 small fresh green chilies, seeded

2 fresh lemongrass stalks, trimmed and white part only, finely sliced

3 cm piece fresh, peeled galangal, finely chopped

1 teaspoon very finely chopped fresh lime leaves (4-5 leaves)

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 Asian shallots (red), chopped

6 coriander roots, washed and finely chopped

Handful of holy basil leaves, finely chopped

2 teaspoons shrimp paste

METHOD

1. Dry fry the ground coriander in a pan for 1 minute until fragrant, the remove. Repeat with the ground cumin.

2. Using a pestle and mortar, pound the chilies, lemongrass, galangal and lime leaves into a paste. Add the garlic, shallots and coriander roots and pound together. Add the remaining ingredients and dry fried spices one at a time and pound until mixture forms a smooth paste.

3. You can also use a spice grinder or food processor to make the paste as smooth as possible. Add a little cooking oil to help if needed.

4. The paste will keep in a glass jar in the fridge for 2 weeks or freeze for 2 months.

Curry

METHOD

1. In a food processor or a blender, chop the fish into a smooth paste

2. Put the coconut cream in a wok or saucepan and simmer over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the cream separates and a layer of oil forms on the surface. Stir the cream if it starts to brown around the edges. Add the curry paste, stir well to combine and cook until frgrant. Add nearly all of the coconut milk and mix well.

3. Use a spoon or your hands to shape the fish paste into small balls, about 2 cm across, and drop them into the coconut milk. Add the eggplants, fish sauce and palm sugar and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fish and eggplants are cooked.

4. Stir in the galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Taste, then adjust the curry if necessary. Spoon into bowls and sprinkle with the remaining coconut milk.Garnish with the basil and sliced red chili.