Thai chicken curry

In Thailand, the curries we refer to as ‘Thai’ in the UK are known as ‘kaeng’ – dishes eaten with rice that are made with shrimp paste, onions or shallots, chillies and garlic. Coconut milk is not an essential ingredient in kaeng, as it’s not always used in traditional Thai curries, but we’ve added it for richness.

■ Serves 4 ■ Prep 10-20 mins ■ Cook 20 mins

2 shallots or 1 small onion

1 lemongrass stalk (see below) 1 tbsp vegetable oil

3-4 tsp red Thai curry paste

4 boneless, skinless chicken

breasts, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar (brown is best)

4 freeze-dried lime leaves (see below)

400ml can coconut milk

20g coriander

1 Peel the shallots or onion, and cut in half through the root. Lay on a board, cut-side down, and thinly slice. Finely slice the lemongrass, starting at the thin end and stopping toward the base, when it gets tough. 2 Heat the oil in a wok or large saucepan until the oil separates (it looks more liquid at this point). Fry the shallots or onion for 3-5 mins until soft and translucent. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 min more, stirring continuously.

3 Add the chicken and stir to coat. Add the fish sauce, sugar, lime leaves and coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 mins until the chicken is cooked through. Stir the curry a few times as it cooks to stop it sticking and keep the chicken submerged.

4 Meanwhile, pick the leaves from the coriander and roughly chop. Taste the curry and add a little more curry paste or salt if needed. Stir in half the coriander and sprinkle the rest on top. Serve with rice (see right).

PER SERVING 388 kcals, fat 26g, saturates 16g, carbs 6g, sugars 4g, fibre 1g, protein 31g, salt 1.4g