Thai Green Vegetable Curry

6oz/175g shiitake mushrooms, sliced
5oz/150g small broccoli florets
5oz/150g fine green beans, halved
4oz/110g asparagus tips
2x14oz/400ml tins coconut milk
1tsp palm or soft brown sugar
3 dessertspoons fresh green peppercorns, or green peppercorns in brine, drained
4 kaffir lime leaves (optional)
1/2oz/10g each basil and coriander leaves
1/2 mild red chili, deseeded and cut into hair like threads

For the Green curry paste:
6-8 whole birds eye chillies, de-stalked
1 lemon grass stalk, trimmed, sliced thinly and soaked for 30 min in
2 tbsp lime juice
1 rounded tsp thinly shredded lime peel (kaffir lime if possible)
1 inch/2.5cm piece of fresh galangal, or other fresh ginger, sliced
1 heaped tsp fresh coriander stalks, chopped
1/2 tsp each cumin and coriander seeds, dry roasted in a small frying pan till toasted, then ground in a pestle and mortar
3 garlic cloves, peeled
5 thai shallots (or other shallots), peeled
You will also need a wok or a flame proof casserole

Put the paste ingredients into a food processor and whiz to a paste, stopping once or twice to scrape the sides down.
To make the curry, place the tins of coconut milk upside down on the counter, open them and you will see that it will have separated into a thick cream below, and a watery milk on top. Divide these by pouring the milk into one bowl and the cream into another.
Place the wok or casserole over a high heat without any oil in it. When it is very hot, add three quarters of the coconut cream. You are going to fry this until it separates, stirring the whole time so it doesn’t catch. As it starts to separate, the oil will begin to seep out and it will reduce. Ignore the curdled look, this is normal.
Next add the curry paste and three quarters of the coconut milk, which should be added a little at a time, keeping the heat high and letting it reduce down slightly. Stay with it and keep stirring to prevent it from sticking. Add the sugar and the peppercorns. Stir again and gently simmer everything, uncovered, for 5 min. Now add the remaining coconut milk and some salt along with the vegetables. Gently stir them in, then bring the liquid back to the boil before simmering for 5 min, or till the vegetables are just tender.
Just before serving place the lime leaves on top of each other (if using), roll them up tightly and slice them into very fine shreds. Stir the basil and coriander into the curry, and scatter the lime leaves and red chili over the top.

This one is from Delia Smith and it’s really good. My husband loves Green Thai Curry, so I figured I’d give it a go. It was so much easier then I thought it would be, it hardly took any time at all. I used slightly less chili peppers in the sauce, but still enough to give it a good kick. The green peppercorns in brine were an entirely new experience for me. They’re really good, and strange, and I like them a lot.

One thing to note… My coconut milk cream never did separate in that first stage of coking. I think that it hadn’t separated from the milk properly because the cans were on their sides in the cupboard, so there wasn’t really a way to turn them upside down. Anyway, it was fine, I reduced it down, and eventually it did start to look a bit curdled, so I figured I was probably still on the right track.

Too spicy for the boys, but my husband and I loved it!