Green Chicken Curry

Ingredients

• 500 g chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 300 ml chicken stock
• 250 g basmati rice, rinsed
• 80 g spinach
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 tbsp green curry paste
• 120 g mangetout
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 15g coriander, chopped
• Kachumber salad, to serve

Method

1. Pat the chicken pieces dry on kitchen paper and season generously with salt and pepper — water means steam, and steam means no browning.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a wide lidded pan over a medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken in two batches, cut-side down, and cook for 4–5 minutes until lightly golden in places. Don't crowd the pan — all at once and the meat steams in its own juices instead of catching colour.
3. Return all the chicken to the pan, stir in the green curry paste and crushed garlic, and cook for 60–90 seconds until fragrant and glossy. Watch the garlic — you want pale gold and aromatic, not bitter and burnt. Bloomed paste tastes of lemongrass and lime leaf; raw paste tastes of the jar.
4. Pour in the coconut milk and chicken stock, scraping up any sticky bits from the base of the pan — that's flavour, don't waste it. Add the rinsed rice and lightly crushed chickpeas, then bring to a gentle simmer.
5. Cover, drop the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes until the rice is almost tender and has drunk up most of the liquid. Resist the urge to stir — you want the rice to steam, not turn to risotto.
6. Scatter the mangetout, peas and spinach over the top, cover again and cook for 3–4 minutes until the greens are just tender and the chicken is cooked through. Taste the sauce now and adjust — a pinch more salt, a grind of pepper. Adjust here, not at the table.
7. Take off the heat and leave to sit, lid on, for 5 minutes. Fluff gently with a fork.
8. Spoon into bowls, scatter the chopped coriander over the top, squeeze a lime wedge over each portion, and serve the kachumber salad alongside for crunch and cool-down.