Asian style cooking in Berlin: Thai Green Curry

I love Asian food. It can be light, fresh and reasonably healthy. I also find it quick and easy to make after work. I made a Thai green curry last night and any meal that involves cooking with one pan (apart from the rice) is a winner for me!

Finding fresh spices and ingredients can be quite limited in a German supermarket. You can of course find your standard root veg and basic salad ingredients but finding anything that may appear ‘exotic’ is a no go I am afraid.

If you are hoping to find some thai sweet basil in your nearest large supermarket you can forget it – standard basil can sometimes be hard enough to come by!

Yet cooking with these spices and herbs can really make a dish that something special and more importantly it is healthy and fresh. The good thing about Berlin is that there are a few local Asian stores dotted around the city. One of my favourites is Asia Mekong located here at Hackesher Markt:

Henriette-Herz Platz 1, 10178 Berlin

You will find all packets of spices you can imagine, pastes, fresh herbs and vegetables and packet and tinned goods. Also, for any of those missing a cup of ‘proper’ tea over here in Berlin they also sell PG Tips.

Thai Green Curry

Ingredients:

To make the paste:

1 tbpsn thai fish sauce

1 tbspn dark soy sauce

1 tbpsn olive oil

juice of 1 lime

handful of fresh coriander

1 tspn black pepper corns

1 tspn dried chili flakes

1 tspn coriander seeds

handful of thai sweet basil or holy basil

fresh galangal (about 1 tbpsn size and chopped)

2 cloves garlic (roughly chopped)

handful of chopped spring onions

2 lemon grass stalks (the outer layer removed and roughly chopped)

1 tspn ground ginger

For the curry:

2 chicken breasts (chopped into chunks)

1 small onion (diced)

1 courgette (sliced)

handful of baby aubergines

handful of mushrooms (roughly chopped)

1 400g tin of low fat coconut milk

1 tbspn soy sauce

ground nut oil

handful of spring onions (chopped)

fresh coriander and thai sweet basil to serve

juice of half a lemon and juice of half a lime

salt and ground black pepper

• Heat the groundnut oil in a large/ reasonably deep frying pan or wok. Add the onions and salt and leave to cook for a 3-4 mins
• Add the chicken and lemon juice to the pan, season with ground black pepper and leave to cook on a medium heat
• In the meantime add all the ingredients to make the paste into a food processor and whizz until smooth
• Keep stirring the chicken and add the soy sauce, courgettes and aubergines to the pan. Add the paste and leave to cook for 3 – 4 mins to get the full flavour
• Add the mushrooms and coconut milk and leave to gently simmer for around 7 mins
• Keep stirring until the sauce has slightly thickened. If needed, leave the pan to simmer for another 4-5 mins
• Take the pan off the heat and stir in the lime juice, fresh coriander and thai sweet bail
• Garnish with more fresh coriander and basmati/ jasmine rice on the side.

Enjoy!