Thai Green Curry

Something of a standby in our house - quick and easy made with a commercial Green Curry paste bought from the local Chinese supermarket. The flavour is nowhere near as complicated as a curry made from first principles but for a supper that's tasty and ready in 20 minutes it's pretty good.

Soften an onion and plenty of chopped garlic in a splash of light vegetable oil, I use peanut oil for oriental cookery but sunflower or rape oil would do. Olive oil gives the wrong flavour.

Prepare sufficient vegetables - your choice, here I have used potato, carrot, celeriac and aubergine but peppers are good, peas or beans, even bamboo shoots or cauliflower are possible. Make sure the veg. is all cut into pieces that will cook in the same time.

Stir these into the melted onion/garlic mixture then add the Curry paste. It's very hot so don't add too much, we find two teaspoonfuls are sufficient for a curry for two people. To enliven the bottled sauce I also add, if I have it, a teaspoonful of grated root ginger, another of finely chopped lemon grass bulb and a couple of dried kaffir lime leaves. A pinch of dried basil is another addition that can refresh the flavour.

Stir this into the vegetables and their oil, then add coconut milk. Thai curries are always served very liquid, almost soupy so add plenty of liquid, somewhere between 300ml and 400ml is about right for a generous curry for two. Canned coconut milks vary considerably by manufacturer and origin. If you think your coconut milk is very concentrated thin it down so that the coconut flavour isn't overpowering.

Allow everything to simmer, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are cooked but not mushy. We often add cubed tofu towards the end of cooking, if added too early it tends to disappear into the sauce.

At the end of cooking add the juice of a lime (or lemon) and a good dash of a light soy sauce. A few fresh coriander leaves make a nice garnish.

Thai rice is slightly sticky unlike basmati but any rice is a good accompaniment, we had long grained brown rice with ours.