Crumpets with Thai chicken
Talk about fusion cooking!
As with our Indian offering, we'd like to think that this is a pretty ace curry recipe, full stop. And the recipe for the vegetables is 100% our own work. The crumpet combo is like some sort of amazing icing on the cake, right?
As with some of our other casserole suggestions, given the effort involved, it's worth doing a fair quantity of the curry if you have friends or a freezer.
| Preparation: 30 minutes | Serves: 24 crumpets |
| Cooking: 1 hour | Unbuttered crumpets |
| Ingredients | Quantity (metric) | Quantity (imperial) |
|---|---|---|
| For the paste | ||
| Small green chillis (de-seeded and finely chopped) | 12 | 12 |
| Lemongrass stalks (trimmed and finely chopped) | 6 | 6 |
| Fresh ginger (peeled and finely chopped) | 4 tbsp | 4 tbsp |
| Shallots (peeled and finely chopped) | 6 tbsp | 6 tbsp |
| Fresh coriander (roots and leaves, finely chopped) | 6 tbsp | 6 tbsp |
| Garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped) | 3 | 3 |
| Kaffir lime leaves | 6 | 6 |
| Coriander seeds | 3 tsp | 3 tsp |
| Black peppercorns | 3 tsp | 3 tsp |
| Salt | 3 tsp | 3 tsp |
| Rapeseed or groundnut oil | 3 tbsp | 3 tbsp |
| For the rest of the curry | ||
| Free-range chicken breast (trimmed and cubed) | 900 g | 2 lb |
| Chicken stock | 600 ml | 1 pint |
| Coconut milk | 400 ml | 14 floz |
| Lemongrass stalks (trimmed and roughly chopped) | 3 | 3 |
| French beans (trimmed) | 350 g | 12.3 oz |
| Babycorn (roughly chopped) | 350 g | 12.3 oz |
| Salt | To taste | To taste |
| For the vegetable stock | ||
| Shallots (peeled and finely chopped) | 6 tbsp | 6 tbsp |
| Lemongrass stalks (trimmed and finely chopped) | 4 | 4 |
| Fresh ginger (peeled and finely chopped) | 4 tbsp | 4 tbsp |
| Large red chillis (de-seeded and finely chopped) | 2 | 2 |
| Chicken stock | 600 ml | 1 pint |
| Water | 600 ml | 1 pint |
| Coconut milk | 400 ml | 14 floz |
| Fish sauce | 2 tbsp | 2 tbsp |
| Lime juice | 1 lime | 1 lime |
| Salt and pepper | Plenty | Plenty |
| And the vegetables | ||
| Sugar snap peas (trimmed) | 350 g | 12.3 oz |
| Asparagus (hard stalk snapped off, roughly chopped) | 350 g | 12.3 oz |
| Tender-stem broccoli (trimmed and roughly chopped) | 350 g | 12.3 oz |
METHOD
- Put all the ingredients for the paste into a blender and whizz until it's a coarse but smooth consistency.
- Put the paste into a large casserole pan and cook on a low to medium heat for 3 or 4 minutes to release the fragance of the mixture.
- Turn up the heat a little, add the chicken and spend about 5 minutes browning it all over.
- Add the chicken stock, coconut milk and lemongrass and mix well.
- Bring to the boil, then cover, reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Add the French beans and babycorn, and cook for a further 20 minutes. Add salt to taste and simmer for a further 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through.
- Fish out the lemongrass before serving, and you're ready to roll.
- Meanwhile....put all the ingredients for the vegetable stock into a large suacepan and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for about 40 minutes, by which time the liquid should have reduced by about a half.
- Remove from the heat and strain the liquid into a large, deep frying pan or wok.
- Bring the liquid to the boil and add the vegetables, cooking on a medium to high heat for 3 or 4 minutes until they are done. Drain and get yourself ready to serve.
- The curry has plenty of moisture, so we'd suggest unbuttered crumpets. In truth, the crumpets are best served on the side and used for dipping, but this doesn't work from a foodstagram point of view, so....
- Thai dishes are very versatile, so obviously move the quantities of individual ingredients up or down as you see fit.
- There are apparently more than 20,000 varieties of edible plant. Experiment with the veg!
The curry
The vegetables
The crumpets
OTHER NOTES
Please use free-range chicken. It’s not only egg-laying hens that dislike being cooped up in tiny filthy cages 24 hours a day.
