Thai Green Curry
Chicken simmered in coconut milk with green curry paste and basil.
Ingredients
- 500 g Chicken thighs
- 4 tbsp Green curry paste
- 2 tin Coconut milk
- 200 g Thai eggplant
- 6 Kaffir lime leaves
- 1 bunch Thai basil
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 500 g Jasmine rice (optional)
Method
- Rinse the jasmine rice and cook it in twice its volume of water, covered, until tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
- While the rice cooks, slice the chicken thighs into bite-size strips.
- Spoon the thick cream from the top of both tins of coconut milk into the pan and simmer over medium heat until it looks oily and starts to split, then stir in the green curry paste and fry until deeply fragrant.
- While the cream reduces, halve the Thai eggplants.
- Add the chicken and stir to coat in the paste. Pour in the remaining coconut milk from both tins, tear in the kaffir lime leaves, and add the eggplant.
- Season with the fish sauce and sugar, then simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through and the eggplant is soft. Taste and adjust with more fish sauce or sugar.
- Off the heat, tear in the Thai basil leaves and stir once to wilt.
- Ladle into bowls and serve with the jasmine rice.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Thai Green Curry
Thai green curry, or gaeng keow wan, is one of the central dishes of central Thai cooking, named for the color its paste takes from fresh green chiles, coriander, and lemongrass rather than for any particular vegetable. This version simmers chicken thighs in coconut milk enriched with green curry paste, and the result is aromatic and layered: creamy from the coconut, herbal and citrusy from kaffir lime leaves and Thai basil, savory-salty from fish sauce, with a gentle sweetness that rounds out the heat. Thai eggplant adds a soft, slightly bitter counterpoint that soaks up the sauce.
The defining move here is cracking the coconut cream. Rather than dumping in the whole tin, you simmer just the thick cream skimmed from the top until it splits and turns oily, then fry the paste in that fat until it is deeply fragrant. This step blooms the spices properly and is the difference between a flat curry and one with real depth. Served over jasmine rice cooked alongside, it is a complete weeknight meal, ready in around thirty-five minutes, and the balance of salty, sweet, and hot is easy to adjust to your own taste with a little more fish sauce or sugar.
Thai Green Curry: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Thai Green Curry?
A serving has about 783 calories — 26.8g protein, 21.3g carbs, 68.8g fat, 6.6g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 26.8g of protein, roughly 14% of its calories.
Is Thai Green Curry gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Thai Green Curry has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
How long does Thai Green Curry take to make?
About 35 minutes start to finish, but only around 19 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Thai Green Curry?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out jasmine rice — it's optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Thai Green Curry make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.