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Green Curry

Thai green chicken curry in 30 minutes. Crack the thick coconut cream until its oil splits, fry the paste in that oil, then simmer briefly so the sauce stays thin, fragrant and green.

  • Serves 4
  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 30 min
  • Heat hot
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Green Curry
Photo: cooked and shot in Tia’s kitchen

Lift the lid on a pot of green curry and you get a wave of lime leaf, basil and chilli, with coconut milk bubbling a soft, pale green. In Thai it's kaeng khiao wan, "sweet green curry", and here's the first surprise: the "sweet" isn't about sugar. It describes the colour, a creamy, gentle green 12. The second surprise? It's usually hotter than red curry 1. Born in central Thailand, it has become the dish half the world orders first at a Thai restaurant 23.

Background

The magic lives in the paste. A classic one pounds green bird's eye chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal, lemongrass, makrut lime peel, coriander root, cumin seed, white peppercorns, shrimp paste and salt 1. Note: coriander root, not the leaves. National Geographic points out that the leaves never go in, and that chefs and food writers mostly agree a homemade paste beats a jar 3. Thaifoodmaster, the school run by Chiang Mai food historian Hanuman Aspler, goes further: hand-pounded paste tastes different from a blender's 7. Good news for anyone who owns a mortar and pestle and some pent-up feelings.

The method is friendly. Fry the paste in coconut milk, cook your chicken, beef or fish balls in it, then add little round Thai eggplants and tiny pea eggplants and simmer until tender. Finish with makrut lime leaves, extra chillies, Thai basil, fish sauce and palm sugar 2. Traditionally the only sweetness came from the coconut milk; some cooks add palm sugar 3.

History

For such a famous dish, green curry is a youngster. Siam's first cookbook, Mae Khrua Hua Pa, came out as a book in 1908, written by Than Phu Ying Plean Phatsakorawong, and recorded early recipes such as massaman curry 4. National Geographic notes that the 1890s cookbooks talk about other curries but not this one, and that its first known appearance comes in a 1926 book by a writer with the pen name L Phaehtraarat 3.

Sources wobble a little on dates. Wikipedia places it in the reigns of King Rama VI or Rama VII, between 1908 and 1926 1; the Thailand Foundation says around 1910 to 1935 2. Either way: early twentieth century, central Thailand.

The ingredients tell older travel stories. Chillies came from the Americas, carried in by Portuguese traders in the late 1600s 3. White pepper and ground spices show an Indian thread, and contact with Persian, Indian and Malay cooks brought coconut into savoury pots 3. The Thailand Foundation says Thai curries started as clear broths, got richer once coconut milk and pastes arrived, and that green paste is really red paste with fresh green chillies swapped in for dried red ones 2. One fun find in Thaifoodmaster's archive: a 1920s "gaeng khiao" from Mrs Yim Pichaiyat Bunnag in a Muslim style, made with ghee, yoghurt, chicken liver, gizzard and heart, and warm spices like cinnamon, clove and cardamom 7. "Green curry" clearly once meant more than one thing.

Then it went travelling. Britain's first Thai restaurant, Bangkok on Bute Street in London, opened in 1967, and in 1988 the Churchill Arms in Notting Hill became the first UK pub to serve Thai food 3. In 2002 the Thai government launched its Global Thai programme to put Thai food on tables worldwide, with a "Thai Select" badge for restaurants using trained chefs, Thai ingredients and authentic dishes 6. Thai restaurants abroad jumped from about 5,500 to over 10,000 in a decade, and by 2014 roughly a quarter of Australian restaurants served Thai food 6. In a 2015 Thai government survey of international diners, green chicken curry came second among favourite Thai dishes 3.

Customs, rules and rituals

Green curry is made for sharing. A Thai meal usually means several dishes in the middle of the table, a plate of rice each, and everyone taking small, one-bite helpings as they go 5. The Tourism Authority of Thailand calls rice, ideally jasmine, the canvas: you balance sour, sweet, salty and bitter across the dishes, bite by bite 5.

Grab a spoon and fork, not chopsticks. The fork nudges food onto the spoon, and the spoon handles curry and rice far better 5. Green curry comes with steamed jasmine rice or khanom chin, soft fermented rice noodles 12, and sometimes with roti 1. With khanom chin it becomes a meal in one bowl 1.

Place in human experience

Green curry shows how fast a dish can become "traditional". It took shape in central Thai and Bangkok kitchens within living memory of its first printed recipe 23, and now stands in for Thai food as a whole. The Thailand Foundation sees it as a showcase of Thai heritage and of a love for fresh local ingredients balanced hot, salty, sweet and creamy 2.

Its world tour wasn't pure luck either. The Global Thai programme treated food as national diplomacy, backed by loans of up to US$3 million for Thai nationals opening restaurants abroad 6. Green curry, already a crowd favourite, rode that wave into takeaways from London to Sydney 36.

At home, though, it comes back to family. The Tourism Authority of Thailand describes food for Thais as a lifelong passion rooted in family, and sharing at the table as a kind of giving 5. One pot, many spoons, and someone always reaching for more rice.

Recipe inspiration

A takeaway green curry often arrives sweet, thick and khaki. Made at home it tastes of what's in it: lime leaves, Thai basil and fresh green chilli, in a sauce thin enough to soak into the rice. It takes half an hour, and most of that is the pot doing the work.

It's also a good home for whatever's in the crisper. Eggplant is classic, but snow peas, beans, zucchini and broccoli all belong. One jar of paste, two tins of coconut milk and a packet of chicken thighs make dinner for four.

Additions & substitutions

  • Prawns or fish instead of chicken. Add 500 g peeled raw prawns or firm white fish in chunks in step 6 instead of step 5, and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, just until cooked 8.
  • Vegetarian or vegan. Swap the chicken for 300 g firm tofu and more vegetables (zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli), use vegetable stock, and season with light soy sauce instead of fish sauce 8. Most jar pastes contain shrimp; check the label.
  • Homemade paste. Pound green chillies, coriander root, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, garlic, lime rind, white pepper, cumin and shrimp paste in a mortar and pestle 19. Use about 5 tbsp and season with up to 3 tsp each of fish sauce and sugar, since homemade paste carries less salt than a jar 8.
  • Thai eggplant. Small round apple eggplants (halved) or tiny pea eggplants are what a Thai cook would use 9. They stay firm and a little bitter. Japanese or ordinary eggplant cut in 1 cm rounds go soft and soak up sauce.
  • Milder. Use 3 tbsp paste instead of 4 to 5, and add the long red chillies at the end only for colour. Below 3 tbsp the curry loses flavour, not just heat 8.
  • Sweet basil for Thai basil. Thai basil has a purple stem and an aniseed edge. Italian basil works; add it right at the end, off the heat.

Expert tips

Shopping

  • Paste: Maesri green curry paste, in a small tin, comes closest to homemade, RecipeTin Eats finds, and costs about a dollar 8.
  • Coconut milk: buy full-fat. For cracking, choose a brand with few or no emulsifiers (guar gum, polysorbate) on the label; those stop the cream separating 10.
  • Makrut lime leaves freeze well. Buy a bag, keep it in the freezer, and pull leaves out as you need them 8.

Preparing

  • Don't shake or stir the tins. Open them carefully and spoon the thick cream off the top of both into the pot; the thin milk underneath goes in later.
  • Slice the chicken and vegetables while the cream cracks: you have about 10 minutes.
  • Taste before serving. Green curry should taste hot and salty first, with only the merest hint of sweetness 9.

Make ahead, or for a crowd

  • Make the curry to the end of step 5 up to a day ahead and keep it in the fridge. Reheat, then add the snow peas, basil and lime juice just before serving so they stay bright.
  • To feed eight, double everything in a wide pot. Crack the cream in a wok or frying pan in two batches: a deep pot holds the steam and the oil takes far longer to split.
  • Cook the rice in a rice cooker and it looks after itself while you cook.

Serving suggestions

Serve in shared bowls in the middle of the table with steamed jasmine rice, sliced red chilli, extra Thai basil and lime wedges, Thai style: a plate of rice each, a spoon and fork, small helpings 5. For a Thai spread, add satay, fresh spring rolls and a plate of pad thai.

Green Curry

  • Serves 4
  • Prep 15 min
  • Cook 30 min
  • Total 45 min

Published 4 Oct 2026

Ingredients

  • 2 × 400 ml (14 fl oz) tins full-fat coconut milk, unshaken
  • 4 to 5 tbsp green curry paste (Maesri, or homemade)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil, only if the cream won't split
  • 500 g (1 lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, sliced 1 cm thick
  • ½ cup (125 ml) chicken stock or water
  • 6 makrut lime leaves, torn in half, centre vein pulled out
  • 2 small eggplants (Japanese, or a handful of Thai), cut into 1 cm rounds or bite-size pieces
  • 1½ cups snow peas or green beans, trimmed
  • 2 tsp fish sauce, plus more to taste
  • 1 tsp grated palm sugar or white sugar
  • 1 cup Thai basil leaves
  • ½ lime, juiced
  • 1 long red chilli, sliced, to serve

Method

  1. Skim the cream. Open both tins without shaking them. Spoon the thick white cream off the top of each, about ¾ cup in all, into a wok or wide frying pan. Keep the thin milk.
  2. Crack it. Simmer the cream over medium heat, stirring often, for 7 to 12 minutes, until it thickens to the texture of yoghurt, little pools of clear oil appear and the edges start to sizzle rather than bubble 10. If after 12 minutes it's thick but no oil has appeared, your brand has emulsifiers: add the 1 tbsp oil and carry on.
  3. Fry the paste. Add the paste and stir it into the oil for 2 to 3 minutes. It darkens a shade, looks almost scrambled, and your kitchen fills with lemongrass and chilli. You'll see the oil again around the edges when it's ready 9.
  4. Add the liquid. Pour in the reserved thin coconut milk and the stock, stir until the paste dissolves, and add the lime leaves. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  5. Cook the chicken and eggplant. Add the chicken and eggplant. Simmer gently for 7 to 8 minutes, until the chicken is white all the way through and the eggplant gives easily to a spoon. Don't boil it hard or cook it longer: the sauce turns dark and loses its green 8.
  6. Add the greens. Add the snow peas and cook for 2 minutes, until bright green and still crisp.
  7. Season. Stir in the fish sauce and sugar, then taste. It should be hot and salty first, a little sweet and creamy behind. Add fish sauce a teaspoon at a time until it's right.
  8. Finish. Take it off the heat, stir in the basil and lime juice, and serve at once with the sliced chilli on top. The sauce stays thin: that's how it should be 8.

Notes

  • Cream won't split? Emulsifiers in the tin hold it together. Add 1 tbsp oil and fry the paste anyway; you get most of the flavour 10.
  • Too hot? Stir in a few tablespoons of coconut cream, or another squeeze of lime and pinch of sugar. Serve with more rice and cucumber slices.
  • Flat or dull? It needs salt, not more paste. Add fish sauce a teaspoon at a time, then a squeeze of lime.
  • Sauce gone brown and thick? It simmered too long. Loosen with a splash of stock and add fresh basil; next time pull it off the heat sooner.
  • Chicken tough? Breast dries out fast. Use thighs, or add breast for the last 5 minutes only.
  • Keeps 3 days in the fridge, or 3 months frozen without the snow peas and basil. Reheat gently and add fresh basil.

Sources

  1. "Green curry", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_curry
  2. "Kaeng Khiao Wan: Thailand's Iconic Green Curry", Thailand Foundation, https://thailandfoundation.or.th/kaeng-khiao-wan-thailands-iconic-green-curry/
  3. "Thai green curry: revealing the spicy secrets of a culinary classic", National Geographic, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/thai-green-curry-revealing-spicy-secrets-culinary-classic
  4. "Mae Khrua Hua Pa", Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Khrua_Hua_Pa
  5. "Sharing and giving: Thai food culture", Tourism Authority of Thailand Newsroom, https://www.tatnews.org/2017/04/sharing-giving-thai-food-culture/
  6. "How Gastrodiplomacy Brought Thai Food To The World Stage", Madeline Rae, Food Republic, https://www.foodrepublic.com/1318428/how-gastrodiplomacy-brought-thai-food-world-stage
  7. "Thai Green Curry with Roasted Duck and Young Chilies", Thaifoodmaster, https://thaifoodmaster.com/thai_food_recipes/thai_curry_recipes/6440
  8. "Thai Green Curry", RecipeTin Eats, https://www.recipetineats.com/thai-green-curry/
  9. "Green chicken curry", Gourmet Traveller, 17 January 2013, https://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipe/mains/green-chicken-curry-14190/
  10. "How to 'Crack' Coconut Cream", Cook's Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen, https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/8358-how-to-crack-coconut-cream

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