2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons green curry paste
6 kaffir lime leaves
4 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm or brown sugar
2 cans coconut milk, plus 1 can water
12-18 (1 1/2 pounds) fresh king prawns, cleaned and deveined (can substitute jumbo shrimp)
2 carrots, peeled, chopped and blanched
1 cup of snow peas or sugar snap peas, blanched
4 green chilies, lightly crushed (you can use jalapenos or small birds-eye chilis)
12 fresh Thai basil leaves (also known as cinnamon basil)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups jasmine rice (dry)
In a heavy-based frying pan over high heat, add oil and the 2 tablespoons of green curry paste. Crush the lime leaves in your hand and add to the pan and continue frying. Keep cooking until all the aromas come out of the paste, and it’s sizzling fiercely. Add the fish sauce and cook for 1 minute. Then add the palm sugar, coconut milk and water, and bring to a boil. Add the shrimp or prawns, carrots and peas, and gently simmer until the shellfish have turned opaque but are still translucent in the middle. Adjust seasoning with fish sauce and sugar, and infuse the mixture with as much crushed chili as you want. The chilies will heat the curry in a hurry; make sure you remove them before serving. Stir in the basil and pour into a large bowl. Serve immediately with steamed jasmine rice and garnish with fresh cilantro. Serves 4.
