Gar­den Green Cur­ry with Chicken

(serves 6)

2 stems lemon­grass, out­er lay­er removed and cut in small chunks

6 cloves garlic

1 2‑inch knob gin­ger, peeled and cut in chunks

large hand­ful coriander/cilantro stems and leaves

1 hot Thai chilli pepper

3 kaf­fir lime leaves or the zest of 1 lime

juice of 1 lime or lemon

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp ground turmeric

2 tsps cur­ry powder

lots of fresh black pepper

splash hot chilli sauce (Sriracha or similar)

1 tin/400ml half-fat coconut milk

1 tbsp peanut or olive oil

1/2 head cau­li­flower, cut in small florets

2 car­rots, peeled and cut length­wise, then in chunks

2 red, yel­low or orange pep­pers, cut in chunks

1 zucchini/courgette, cut length­wise, then in chunks

1 white onion, peeled and cut into quarters

1 small tin bam­boo shoots, drained

1 ear sweet­corn kernels

4 bone­less chick­en fil­lets, cut in chunks

approx­i­mate­ly 1/2 tin/200ml chick­en stock

coriander/cilantro leaves to garnish

First, make the cur­ry sauce. In a blender or small chop­ster, place all the ingre­di­ents up to the coconut milk.  Add a large splash of the coconut milk (retain the rest), then pulse until the entire mix­ture is as smooth as possible.

Place the oil in a large saucepan or wok and stir all the veg­eta­bles and the chick­en briskly over a high heat until they just begin to col­or.  Pour over the cur­ry mix­ture, the retained coconut milk and the chick­en stock until you have a sauce that is of a con­sis­ten­cy you like.  Cov­er the pan and sim­mer, stir­ring occa­sion­al­ly, for about 15 min­utes or until the chick­en is just cooked through and the car­rots and cau­li­flower are eas­i­ly pierced with a fork.  Serve with steamed rice or rice noodles.