A Very Green and Non-Spicy Fish Thai Curry with Rice
At home we like cooking dishes that we can all eat from. We have never fed our kids differently than us, so spicy foods are out of the question, the same as generous amounts of salt, whoever wants it a bit spicy (which is generally me) adds it later. And because of that its how this recipe came about as all the green and red Thai curry paste that you find in jars are too spicy for the kids to eat. Yet not because of them we wanted to stop eating a good Thai curry. For this recipe I removed some of the traditional ethnic ingredients used for it like fish sauce, fermented shrimp paste and palm sugar which unless you cook Thai curries once every two weeks I wouldn’t think you need them in your cupboard and I used simple everyday ingredients instead. Of course the chilies were the first ingredient to jump of the boat but the beauty of making our own paste is the fragrance and freshness that your end dish will have. Kids absolutely love this curry and I can add a few slices of fresh chili on top!
INGREDIENTS
250g defrosted skinless and boneless basa fillets £1.30
100ml vegetable oil £0.11
1 stick lemon grass £0.25
4cms ginger £0.13
2 garlic cloves £0.06
3 spring onions £0.29
1/3 bunch coriander £0.39
1 tsp brown sugar £0.02
400g frozen green beans £0.24
250g frozen peas £0.14
240g Jasmine rice £0.50
1 tin coconut milk £0.55
200ml water
Salt £0.01
TOTAL £3.99 / 4 = £1
Preparation
Defrost the fish, the green beans and the peas (if you don’t it’s just as good). Prepare a paste with the help of a food processor (or hand blender) with the stalks of the coriander, the white part of the spring onions, the garlic cloves, ginger, the heart of the lemon grass and the oil. Separately blend the coriander leaves (put a few aside for decoration) with 200ml of water until a green puree has been formed. Thinly slice the green part of the spring onions and keep submerged in some cold water.
Wash the rice with cold water a couple of times until the water runs clear. Place a small saucepan with the rice and enough water that covers the rice by 1 cm. Bring to the boil over medium heat, lover the heat to a minimum, cover with a lid and let it cook for 13 minutes while we cook our curry.
In a large frying pan over high heat pour the paste, the outer skin layer of the lemon grass (which is hard to eat but is very fragrant)and fry for 1 minute. Add the green beans, the sugar, season with salt and pour the coconut milk. Give it a good stir and bring it to the boil. Add the chunks of fish, the peas and pour the water and coriander leaves puree, simmer for 2 minutes and serve with the rice. Top with some coriander leaves and the thinly slice green part of the spring onion.
