Green curry
Encyclopedia
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
in Thai cuisine. The name "green" curry derives from the color of the dish. Other Thai curry dishes are identified solely by their colors, such as yellow
Yellow curry
Yellow curry is one of three major kinds of Thai curry, commonly found in Thai restaurants in the West. There are many more types in Thailand, several of which are yellow...
and red curry
Red curry
Red curry is a popular Thai dish consisting of curry paste to which coconut milk is added. The base is properly made with a mortar and pestle, and remains moist throughout the preparation process. The main ingredients are garlic, shallots, red chili peppers, galangal, shrimp paste, salt, kaffir...
. Green curries tend to be as hot as red curries, both being hotter than phanang/padang curries. However, green curries, regardless of heat, have a definite and desired sweetness that is not usually associated with red curries.
The main ingredients for the sauce consist of coconut milk
Coconut milk
Coconut milk is the water that comes from the grated meat of a coconut. The colour and rich taste of the milk can be attributed to the high oil content. In many parts of the world, the term coconut milk is also used to refer to coconut water, the naturally occurring liquid found inside the hollow...
, green curry paste
Curry paste
Curry paste is a moist blend of ground or pounded herbs and/or spices and other seasonings. Curry paste is an important ingredient in Thai cuisine, and can also be a generic commercial product that replaces curry powders or spice blends in other cuisines....
, eggplant (aubergine), pea aubergine
Solanum torvum
Solanum torvum , is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases affecting the root system, thus allowing the crop to continue for a second year.It is also known as Devil's Fig, Prickly Nightshade,...
, sugar, fish sauce
Fish sauce
Fish sauce is a condiment that is derived from fish that have been allowed to ferment. It is an essential ingredient in many curries and sauces. Fish sauce is a staple ingredient in numerous cultures in Southeast Asia and the coastal regions of East Asia, and features heavily in Thai and Vietnamese...
, kaffir lime
Kaffir lime
The kaffir lime, Citrus × hystrix, Rutaceae), is also known as combava, kieffer lime, limau purut, jeruk purut or makrut lime,...
leaves, and Thai basil
Thai basil
Thai basil is a type of sweet basil native to Southeast Asia that has been cultivated to provide a distinctive set of traits. It has an identifiable licorice flavor not present in sweet basil, and its flavor is more stable under high or extended cooking temperatures than that of sweet basil...
leaves. The consistency of its sauce varies with the amount of coconut milk used. Green curry paste is made by pounding in a mortar
Mortar and pestle
A mortar and pestle is a tool used to crush, grind, and mix solid substances . The pestle is a heavy bat-shaped object, the end of which is used for crushing and grinding. The mortar is a bowl, typically made of hard wood, ceramic or stone...
green chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal
Galangal
Galangal is a rhizome of plants of the genus Alpinia or Kaempferia in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originated from Indonesia...
, kaffir lime peel, roasted coriander and cumin seeds, white peppercorns, shrimp paste
Shrimp paste
Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi in Indonesian, ngapi in Burmese, kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in...
and salt. The paste is briefly fried in split coconut cream, then coconut milk, meat or fish, and vegetables added along with a pinch of palm sugar. Finally, kaffir lime leaves, phrik chi fa ("sky-pointing chilies", large mild chilies) and Thai basil are added just at the end of cooking for fragrance. When the curry is made with fish or seafood, krachai (wild ginger, Chinese keys) is added. Thai green curry can be made using readily available commercially made curry paste.
Thai green curry can be made with all kinds of meat. However, the more popular ones are made with beef, pork, chicken, and fish ball. The green curry is usually eaten with rice or with round rice noodles known as khanom chin .