GAENG KAE GAI

Northern chicken and vegetable curry

This is such a simple dish. It hails from the mountains of the north, where we don’t have so many coconuts, so it is a water-based curry, light and fragrant and herbal. And it’s cobbled together from different versions as

made by many of my friends in the area. I don’t weigh the vegetables, but just add by the handful.

Serves four to six, as part

of a larger meal

INGREDIENTS

For the curry paste

10 dried red chillies, soaked

for 20 minutes in warm water and drained, deseeded

and chopped

10 bird’s eye chillies, stalks removed

½ tsp salt 2 lemongrass stalks, bashed

and chopped

2 tbsp chopped galangal 6 Thai shallots, peeled

and chopped

4 large cloves of garlic,

finely chopped

1 tbsp shrimp paste 1½ tsp Sichuan peppercorns

For the chicken 250g skinless chicken breast or thigh, sliced into

bite-sized pieces 2 tbsp vegetable oil 4 cloves of garlic, finely

chopped 660ml chicken stock or water Fish sauce, to taste (optional)

For the vegetables (all optional;

use whatever you have) Mushrooms – any and all types Aubergines – long purple or green cut into chunks, pea aubergines left whole, or round ones cut into quarters

Green beans Bamboo shoots

Thai basil Coriander, stalks and all

Thai basil, to garnish Fresh red chillies, left whole,

to garnish

METHOD

Pound all the paste ingredients until fine, working from the hardest to the softest, or pop them into a mini-chopper and blitz until you have a paste.

h Coat the chicken with the paste and leave it to marinate for about five

minutes.

h Heat the oil in a wok and add the garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant. Add the chicken and paste and stir-fry for a

minute or two. Add the stock or water and simmer until the chicken is cooked.

h Add the vegetables, starting with the firmest ones first and adding the herbs last (you want them

to begin to wilt), and simmer until just cooked. Taste – add a little salt or fish sauce if you think it

needs it. Serve with steamed rice.