During the cold, rainy (and sometimes hopefully snowy) months I crave curries and Asian food. I reckon it is because the chili heats me up. There must be a reason why hot food comes from hot countries and why cold countries have blander food, but for me on a cold winter night, a green coconut chicken curry is the perfect thing.

I assumed that if I had cravings for curry my daughter would also love it, but she absolutely hates spicy food! The slightest dust of chilli makes her refuse to eat her dish. So I have concocted a green chicken coconut curry without chilli from scratch (loosely based on a recipe I found in Nigel Slater’s book called Appetite, one of my favourite cookbooks). It turned out to be delicious…..

For the paste:

-1 clove of garlic
-1 small piece of ginger (about the size of the fingernail)
-1-2 shallots
-1 handful of coriander leaves
-1 teaspoon of lime zest
-1 lime juice
-Thai fish sauce

For the curry:

-1 can of coconut milk
-2 chicken breasts
-vegetables (As the recipe is really not very authentic I feel I have the license to use any vegetable I want – I use green beans, mushrooms, aubergine, carrots, sweet potato or butternut squash – they all taste wonderful!)

Wizz the ingredients for the curry paste together in the food processor until you have gotten a real paste. It takes a bit of time but it is really worth letting the ingredients mix until they have all become an entity.

Heat a bit of sunflower oil in a saucepan, add the curry paste and let it heat up for a minute or two, then add the tin of coconut milk and mix until the paste has dissolved and the milk is pale green. Add the chicken and the vegetables and let the curry simmer for about 20 min. Serve with rice or noodles

I hope you (and your kids) enjoy it. By the way, if your kids do like a bit of spice you can always add in a couple of green chilis to the paste; I’m sure it will make it even more delicious.

You can download the recipe for Green Curry here.

- Emilie