FODMAP Thai green curry

I adore all Thai food, I went over when I was 18 and developed a total addiction to Pad Thai, Thai Green Curry and Massaman Curry. I did a Thai cookery class during my next visit, but then along came the FODMAP diet, no garlic, no onion, no thai green curry. This was actually one of the first things I searched for a FODMAP recipe for when I started the diet and the first “adventurous” thing I attempted to make, and to be honest, it’s pretty easy and tastes great! The paste can be made in advance and kept in the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer. Last night I grabbed some chicken and paste from the freezer and 30 mins later I had a delicious Thai green curry for me and my housemates – easy peasy!

I found the recipe on the Cooking with Noting Blog and have made it a few times now. I made a few changes to the recipe, either due to struggles with finding the ingredients or personal preference (or occassionally, being too lazy to go back to the shop when I realised I had forgotten something…).

The curry paste is the bit that takes the longest to prepare, but it is well worth it as curry paste from the supermarket seems to be chock full of garlic and onions. We have a great little blender which cuts down the prep time considerably.

Ingredients

Curry paste:

• 2 x lemon grass stalks, or I am personally a big fan of these from Gourmet garden: so about 2 tblsp
• 1-3 green chilis (depending on your spice preference)
• 1 bunch spring onions, green part only
• 2-4cm of galangal or ginger, also available from gourmet garden (again approx 2tbsp)
• 1 bunch of coriander, stalks and leaves – I do think this is best fresh and I love coriander so generally find myself adding some of this too!
• 1 bunch thai basil – I admit both times I have made this I have been unable to get thai basil so I have used normal italian basil and it has been fine, though I think you need less of it otherwise it can be a bit overpowering
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• juice of half a line

Dish:

• Chicken thighs (I use chicken thighs as they tend to have more flavour, but any chicken will do, you can even use leftovers from a roast chicken!)
• half bunch spring onions
• butternut squash
• 2 peppers (red and yellow – I am not a fan of green ones, but obviously it would work just as well – I particularly like the colours in my food!)
• baby corn
• green beans
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1tbsp oil

The vegetables can be changed for other vegetables depending on your preference, and for a vegetarian option you can just leave out the chicken and add extra veg or replace it with tofu.

Method

• Finely chop all of the ingredients for your curry paste.
• If you have a blender, blend them all together, if not use a pestle and mortar, if you don’t have either, chop as finely as you can and combine – it’ll be a little more chunky, but will work just as well! I never get my paste to be quite as paste like as those you buy from the shop!
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan
• Add the curry paste and heat for 1 or two mins, until the flavours are released
• Add the chicken, and if you are using it, butternut squash to the paste and cook until the chicken has got a little colour and is coated in the curry paste.
• Add the remaining vegetables and stir through.
• Add the coconut milk
• Leave to bubble away for about 20 mins

Serving Suggestions

• Sticky rice works really well with green curry
• Or the flavours in Tilda’s coconut, chilli and lemongrass 2 minute rice compliments the curry really well
• You can add a pint of chicken (or vegetable) stock to the curry to make it into a soup, adding some rice noodles to this works really well.