Thai Green Chicken Curry

Tender chicken thighs simmered in a silky coconut sauce, spiked with green curry paste, lemongrass and Thai basil. This is a proper Thai green curry with the sweet-salty-sour balance that sets it apart from a generic curry, yet it's easy enough for a weeknight.

Real Thai green curry isn’t just spicy; it’s a balancing act of salty fish sauce, sweet palm sugar, sour lime and the herbal punch of lemongrass and Thai basil. Using chicken thighs keeps everything succulent, and frying the paste in thick coconut cream first unlocks its full fragrance. Fifteen minutes of prep and it comes together fast.

Ingredients

• 600g boneless, skinless chicken thighs — cut into bite-sized chunks
• 4 tbsp Thai green curry paste — Mae Ploy or Thai Taste for the best heat and flavour
• 400ml full-fat coconut milk — 1 tin; don't shake it
• 150ml chicken stock — or water
• 1 tbsp fish sauce — plus more to taste
• 1 tbsp palm sugar or soft brown sugar
• 1 stalk lemongrass — bruised and halved
• 3 kaffir lime leaves — torn; or zest of 1 lime
• 1 small aubergine — cut into chunks; or 100g mangetout
• 1 red chilli — sliced, to garnish
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 handful Thai basil leaves — or regular basil
• 1 lime — cut into wedges, to serve

Method

1. Open the tin of coconut milk without shaking it and spoon the thick cream from the top into a wide pan or wok. Heat over a medium-high hob until it bubbles and starts to split, about 3 minutes.
2. Stir in the green curry paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, pressing it into the cream, until it darkens slightly and smells intensely fragrant. This step is what gives the curry its depth, so don't rush it.
3. Add the oil and the chicken, turning to coat every piece in the paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the outsides are sealed and no longer pink.
4. Pour in the rest of the coconut milk and the stock, then add the lemongrass, torn lime leaves, aubergine, fish sauce and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Simmer uncovered for 12-15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the aubergine is soft and the chicken is cooked through with no pink in the middle and the sauce has thickened to a light coating consistency.
6. Taste and adjust: it should be balanced between salty, sweet and savoury. Add a splash more fish sauce for saltiness or a pinch of sugar to round it off.
7. Fish out the lemongrass, stir through most of the Thai basil and take off the heat. Scatter with the remaining basil, sliced chilli and serve with lime wedges.

Serve it with

• Steamed jasmine rice
• Sticky rice
• Prawn crackers
• A crisp cucumber and shallot salad
• Extra lime wedges and sliced chilli

Why this works

Frying the curry paste in split coconut cream before adding liquid toasts the aromatics and blooms their oils, giving a rounder, deeper flavour than simply boiling everything together.

Common swaps

• Swap chicken thighs for firm white fish or prawns (add in the last 5 minutes).
• Use tofu and vegetable stock for a vegetarian version, and check your paste is meat-free.
• No lemongrass or lime leaves? A strip of lime zest and a squeeze of juice at the end lifts it.
• Bamboo shoots, green beans or courgette all work in place of aubergine.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Shaking the coconut tin so you can't separate the cream, meaning the paste never fries properly.
• Under-frying the curry paste, which leaves a raw, harsh taste instead of a rounded one.
• Boiling the sauce hard for a long time, which can make coconut milk grainy and greasy; keep it at a gentle simmer.
• Skipping the final taste-and-balance, so the curry ends up flat rather than sweet-salty-sour.

Storage, freezing & reheating

Storage: Cool quickly and keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Freezing: Freezes well for up to 2 months; the sauce may look split once thawed but stirs back together when reheated gently.

Reheating: Reheat in a pan over a low-medium heat, stirring, until piping hot throughout; add a splash of water or stock if the sauce has thickened.

Allergen notes: contains Fish, Crustaceans. Always check individual product labels.

Estimated nutrition

Per serving, estimated from typical ingredient values — not a substitute for precise dietary calculation.