Rezept

Gaeng Kiao Wan: Green curry with chicken and eggplant

Green curry relies on fresh chillies that provide a quick heat that fades just as quickly. With chicken, eggplant, and coconut milk, the paste becomes a complete dish for four people.

3 Min. Lesezeit

Gaeng Kiao Wan: Grünes Curry mit Poulet und Aubergine

Gaeng Kiao Wan, or พริกแกงเขียวหวาน in Thai, is the green Thai curry you know from every take-away: rich green, creamy from coconut milk, with a heat that comes on quickly and fades just as fast. Unlike red paste, the color comes not from dried chilies, but from fresh green ones.

The dish is younger than one might think. The first mentions date back to the early 20th century, originating in the kitchens of Central Thailand. There, fresh green chilies were available year-round, whereas in the north, they worked with dried varieties. To this day, these fresh chilies give the curry its bright, ephemeral heat.

Our paste already contains lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, and kaffir lime zest, as well as the fresh green chilies themselves and a pinch of cumin for depth. Anyone familiar with the ingredient list of a classic recipe knows how much shopping and preparation this saves. For the recipe below, all that remains is what cannot be preserved: meat or tofu, some vegetables, and the coconut milk.

  • 4servings
  • 25 min.preparation
  • 4/5on the THAANI scale

Shopping list

What else you need

  • 1 jar THAANI Green Curry Paste (3 tbsp for this recipe)
  • 500 g chicken breast or firm tofu
  • 2 small eggplants (approx. 300 g), cut into pieces
  • 400 ml full-fat coconut milk (1 can)
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp palm sugar or coconut sugar
  • 1 red chili, in fine strips
  • a handful of Thai basil
  • juice of half a lime
  • 300 g jasmine rice

Preparation

  1. Cook rice. Prepare jasmine rice according to package instructions while the curry is being made, so everything is ready at the same time.
  2. Sauté paste. Heat 1 tbsp of the solid coconut cream from the top of the can (or vegetable oil) in a wok; fry the curry paste for two minutes over medium heat until it smells significantly more intense and becomes darker. This exact step releases the aroma from the paste.
  3. Add chicken. Cut chicken breast into strips, add to the wok, and sear on all sides until no longer raw. Do not cook too long; the meat will continue to cook in the next step.
  4. Fill with coconut milk. Pour in the remaining coconut milk, bring to a boil, add the eggplants, and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes until soft but not falling apart.
  5. Season. Stir in the fish sauce and palm sugar, let it rest briefly, and finish with lime juice. Taste first, then adjust.
  6. Finish. Remove from heat, fold in the basil and chili strips, and serve immediately with rice while the herbs still smell fresh.
Green curry tastes of freshness, not of heat. If you fry the paste at too high a temperature, you lose exactly that.

Variations and tips

  • Vegetarian: Tofu instead of chicken; sear the tofu separately first so it gets some color, and replace the fish sauce with light soy sauce.
  • More vegetables: Cook bamboo shoots, green beans, or pea eggplants along with the eggplants.
  • Spicier: Fry an additional fresh chili with the paste instead of adding it at the end.
  • Creamier: Increase the ratio of coconut milk to water and use a little more paste so the flavor isn't diluted.

After opening, the paste will keep in the refrigerator at +2 to +6 °C, best covered with a thin layer of oil. Finished curry can also be cooked one day in advance and gently reheated the next day; the flavor often becomes more rounded. One jar provides about 10 servings of curry, or roughly two and a half times this recipe.