Here is the recipe I use to make Thai green curry (gaeng keow wan). It's based on what I've seen in Thai restaurants and several online recipes I've found. Thai curries seem to be one of those things where everyone has their own recipe.
Ingredients
one pound boneless meat (chicken, pork, beef)
coconut milk (two small boxes [17oz] or one can [13 oz])
2 or 3 TBS coconut cream or oil (preferred) or neutral vegetable oil (such as peanut)
chicken or beef stock (optional)
2-4 TBS Thai green curry paste
1 TBS fish sauce
vegetables, one or more of:
- bamboo shoot strips (550 ml can, drained and rinsed)
- eggplant/aubergine (Thai preferred)
-20 or so pea eggplants
- red or green bell pepper
- broccoli or cauliflower
4 pairs fresh kaffir lime leaves (bai makrut)
several green peppercorns (optional)
Procedure
[1] Cut the meat across the grain into thin strips. Cut Thai eggplants vertically into eighths; other eggplants, bell peppers, broccoli, or cauliflower into chunks roughly matching the size of the meat strips.
[2] Heat the oil (I use the cream skimmed off the top of the coconut milk) over moderate heat. Add the curry paste and stir until fragrant (1-2 minutes).
[3] Add the meat and cook until the slices lose their raw color.
[4] Add the coconut milk and stock (if using), raise the heat, and bring to a boil.
[5] Add the veggies, kaffir lime leaves, fish sauce, and green peppercorns (if using). Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a gentle simmer. Cook until the meat and veggies are cooked through (10 minutes or so depending on the veggies you use). Serve with jasmine rice on the side.
Notes
If you can't find these ingredients at your local Asian market, check out Importfood.com. In particular they sell fresh kaffir lime leaves.
coconut milk
This is not the liquid inside a coconut (that is coconut water). Coconut milk is made by using hot water to extract the fat and fluids from shredded fresh coconut. Making your own is a tedious process. Fortunately it comes commercially in both boxes and cans. I prefer Aroy-D or Chaokoh brand. Avoid the coconut cream preparations used to make Coco Loco and other tropical drinks.
stock
Optional. Add some if you like your Thai curry more soupy.
coconut oil
I skim the cream off the top of the coconut milk and use that for the initial frying of the curry paste. You can also use coconut oil or a neutral vegetable oil such as peanut oil.
green curry paste
This is a combination of hot green chiles, galangal, kaffir lime rind, various other spices and herbs, and shrimp paste. I've tried making my own but I've found that the commercial versions that come in tubs or cans are both a lot more convenient and taste better (probably because they're made with fresher ingredients). I like Mae Ploy brand the best.
Be sure to check the ingredients label. Green curry paste is supposed to have shrimp paste in it. Many manufacturers of curry pastes leave it out of the version they export to the US because shrimp paste causes their product to be classified as "containing meat, fish, or seafood" and it then is subject to more customs bureaucracy. If your green curry paste doesn't list shrimp paste as an ingredient you can buy shrimp paste separately and add about a teaspoon to the curry paste just before you fry it. I recommend Tra Chang brand of shrimp paste (kapi in Thai). It comes in a tub with a yellow label with a logo of scales weighing a shrimp. Be sure you get Thai shrimp paste; Chinese style is not a substitute. If your curry paste doesn't have shrimp paste and you can't get it separately, just add a extra tablespoon of fish sauce.
kaffir lime leaves (bai makrut)
These are the leaves of the kaffir lime tree, a species of citrus closely related to limes but with small, bumpy fruit with a thick rind and almost no juice. Both the fruit and the leaves are extremely aromatic. The leaves come in two-lobed pairs. This recipe calls for four whole leaves (eight lobes). Kaffir lime leaves freeze beautifully.
eggplant
Thai eggplants are small, round, and either mottled green, purple, or white (the white version is probably where the name eggplant comes from). Chinese eggplants are long and purple. Conventional European-type eggplants are large, purple, and globular. Here in the US they also sell Italian eggplant, which is like a smaller variety of the standard European type. You can use any of these here.
pea eggplant
This is Solanum torvum, a species of nightshade closely related to the conventional eggplant Solanum melongena. It has round, green fruits slightly larger than a pea. It is a common ingredient in Thai curries. It's usually available in jars in pickled form, although the last time I was in my Thai grocery they had fresh ones available. It can be left out, or you can do as most US Thai restaurants do and substitute fresh peas.
green peppercorn
These are ordinary peppercorns, but harvested unripe and not allowed to dry. Harvested mature and allowed to dry, you get black peppercorns. White peppercorns are black peppercorns that have had the rind removed. Green peppercorns come in strings plucked off the pepper vine, sold pickled in jars. Remove the peppercorns and discard the stem. Store refrigerated after you open the jar. Oxygen will cause the peppercorns to turn black over time once the jar's opened. Don't worry about that--they still taste the same despite the color change.
-Paul W.