I’m a fan of Tom Kerridge, but on occasion I do think he makes his recipes unnecessarily faffy or ‘cheffy’. After a day at work I almost sacked off making his Thai Green Chicken Curry when looking at the long list of ingredients and method to make it. In the end, I used chicken breasts (which I diced and stir-fried for a couple of minutes first) instead of pissing about poaching a chicken crown and cutting off the meat. This saved some precious time in the kitchen.
As for the end result, well fair play to Tom, like most of his meals this did taste very good and the serving size was huge. I did make the mistake of substituting the 100ml full-fat coconut milk for 200ml half-fat coconut milk, mainly because I had a half-tin lurking in my cupboard and couldn’t see the point in opening a regular sized tin to only use 100ml. But this did make the curry runnier and as a consequence of having to simmer for longer some of the vege went soft. Would I eat this meal again? Yes, definitely. Would I make it again? Pass.
If you’re wanting a Thai curry fix, the Hairy Dieters do a simpler version for approx 150 calories less here.
Recipe: Thai Green Chicken Curry
Calories: 455 calories per serving
Serves: 4
Book: Tom Kerridge – Lose Weight for Good
Prep time: Approx 45 mins
Cooking time: Approx 30 mins
Ingredients: 1 skinless chicken crown (750g) pre-poached in 500ml fresh chicken stock and 500ml water then cooled, 1 tbsp vegetable oil, 3 medium onions (cut into large dice), 6 garlic cloves (finely chopped), 7.5cm piece of ginger (julienned), 4 tbsp good-quality Thai green curry paste (80g), 700ml fresh chicken stock (include the stock reserved from cooking the chicken), 100ml tinned full-fat coconut milk, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce. 4 kaffir lime leaves (finely sliced), 2 green peppers, deseeded (cored and cut into large dice), 200g green beans (halved), 2 courgettes (cut into large dice), 225g tin bamboo shoots (drained), 3 heaped tbsp cornflour (mixed to a paste with 3 tbsp water), chopped coriander to finish (optional)
Cost per portion: Approx £2.35
Method: Take the chicken breasts off the bone and cut the meat into chunks, about 2.5cm.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick saucepan. When hot, add the onions and cook for 10 minutes or until softened and starting to brown, adding a splash of water if they start to stick.
Toss in the garlic and ginger and sauté for 2–3 minutes, then stir in the curry paste and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, fish sauce, oyster sauce and lime leaves. Bring to the boil and let the stock simmer for 5 minutes then toss in the peppers, green beans and courgettes, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the chicken and bamboo shoots, then stir in the cornflour paste. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes until the liquor thickens.
Serve the curry in warmed big bowls, scattered with coriander if you like.
Flatten Your Curves 