Making Thai Green Curry From Scratch

Guest Post by Tom 

Hi everyone! I am very excited to be allowed (at last) to guest post on Jess' blog! At the moment I am doing an epic 3 month Candida cleanse, which means I have to avoid sugar in any form, even fruit! So potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, dairy, alcohol, caffeine etc are all out, so I've had to get pretty creative in the kitchen (which I've actually really enjoyed and I think is the reason Jess posted a nice picture of some recent meals I've cooked the other day). 

This is my Thai Green Curry that I made from scratch, because the Thai Green Paste in a jar that is so convenient contains sugar and also lots of other nasties that I'm trying to avoid. It was dead easy to do and I will personally never be buying any form of sauce in a jar ever again, because of; 
a.) The taste difference is astounding! 
b.) It's so much healthier to avoid preserved food and all the added chemicals and... 
c.) It really wasn't that hard or time consuming!

I hope to make something that Jess likes so much I get to post back here again soon! Chow for now...



Thai Green Curry with Red Quinoa 
Serves 2


Ingredients:

Curry paste:

• 2 stalk lemongrass
• 2 green chilies 
• 1 small red onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 thumb-size piece of galangal 
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander (leaves & stems)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp
• juice of half a lime
• 6 cardamon pods
• 2-3 tsp coconut milk (out of the can you need for the curry)
• tsp olive oil

Thai Green Curry:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 organic chicken breasts cut into chunks (or two servings organic beef, or 1 can of chickpeas)
• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper (or red)
• 1 can coconut milk
• small handful fresh corriander
• juice of half a lime

Directions:

Curry paste: 

• Roughly chop ingredients and place in a food processor.
• Blend until combined. (Add more coconut milk if necessary)

Thai Green Curry:

• Heat coconut oil in a large fry pan over medium heat. Add chopped lemongrass, diced onion and chopped green pepper. Cook for a minute or two then add curry paste.
• Add chicken to the mixture. (Or protein of choice.) Once it begins to seal add the coconut milk bring it to a simmer. 
• Add fresh corriander, kaffir lime leaves and lime juice.
• Let it reduce slightly then cover and gently simmer for around 20 minutes to let the flavours settle in.

At this point you can prepare your quinoa, brown rice or other grain you would like to use. Follow the instructions according to the packet. I also cooked some spring greens sauteed in coconut oil to serve with the dish.  

• Once the curry has gently simmered for 20 or so minutes serve on a bed of red quinoa and spring greens. 
• Enjoy!