This recipe has been in the works for nearly six months. I never really got around to doing it because I didn’t seem to have a shallow bowl to plate it in (a real problem to have, isn’t it?) and so it never really got the green light from me. I really loved the idea of making a subtle East Asian themed savoury meal with ingredients like coconut milk, curry leaves, galangal and tamarind with sweet floral back notes of lemongrass. I always feel as if there’s this whole undiscovered door to the culinary world of East Asia.

I appreciate Thai food a lot: its subtle, balanced and has that unflinching note of devotion towards preparing food. All of these qualities also remind me of soul food. I’m not referring to a particular cuisine, rather a comforting sense, which I especially feel in curries from Thai cuisine. This bowl of food has Thai green(ish) curry, tamarind chicken and fragrant rice. The sweet, sticky and tangy chicken is wonderfully complemented with mellow, fragrant and creamy notes from the curry. Rice is a necessity here: some form of starch is an absolute must to complete this dish. This is an overall great dish: its delicious, you get to practice making your own curry paste and you step into the Thai culinary world.

Green Curry Bowl

(generously serves 1)

Tamarind chicken:

• 1/8 cup tamarind flesh
• A little over 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 chicken breast
• Salt
• 3 tbsp. water
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 a small onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 red chilies

Soak the tamarind in some hot water for about 25 minutes, occasionally mashing the flesh. Pass the mixture through a sieve, scraping the bottom of the sieve. Cut the chicken into bite sized medallions. Season with salt and set aside. Thinly slice the onion, chop the garlic and red chilies. Heat some oil in a pan. Render the onions and garlic, until they start to brown. Add the chicken and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the water, 3 tbsp. of the prepared tamarind juice, brown sugar and chilies in a small bowl. Add this mixture to the chicken and stir fry until the chicken is cooked. Spoon an additional 3-4 tbsp. of the tamarind juice on the chicken while cooking to coat the chicken. Remove from heat.

Green curry:

• 2 tbsp. green chilies, chopped
• 2 tbsp. chopped galangal/ ginger
• 3 tbsp. coriander stems, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp. coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• About 3/4 cup water
• Salt

Blend the chilies, galangal/ ginger, coriander stems, garlic, lemongrass and water in a food processor to form a paste. Season with cumin powder, coriander powder and pepper. Heat some oil in a pan. Add about 4 tbsp. of the green curry paste and fry until fragrant. Add the coconut milk and water and stir. Add more curry paste, if needed. Let the curry simmer on a low heat for about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and remove from heat.

Bring it all together:

• Cooked jasmine rice
• Mint, for garnish
• Lemon wedges, for garnish
• Onion slices, for garnish

In a bowl, lay the tamarind chicken in the green curry. Garnish with mint leaves, slices of onion and wedges of lemon. Serve with jasmine rice.