Low Fat Thai-Style Green Chicken Curry

Video HERE

Yes, I know, anything labeled 'low fat' is doomed to taste like rabbit food - and be rabbit food, most often... however, this recipe manages to skirt past the typical 'healthy' offerings and create a tasty bowl of yum - well, at least I like to think so.

Ingredients:
2-3 Chicken Breasts*
1-2tbsp Rapeseed Oil
1-2 Limes
1 Red Onion
Bunch Coriander (With stems and roots if possible)**
2" Ginger, grated (or 2-3tsp pure pureed ginger from a jar)***
2-3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped or crushed (or 2-3tsp pure pureed garlic from a jar)
1 Lemongrass, bruised and finely chopped (or 2-3tsp pure pureed lemongrass from a jar)
2-3tsp Coriander Puree (blitz a bit of your fresh herb, or use some from a jar)
2-3tsp Green Thai Curry Paste
1 can Reduced Fat Coconut Milk****
Handful Green Beans or Peas (optional)
1-2tsp Fish Sauce
1-2tsp Cornflour (optional)
1-2 Green Chilli's
Toasted Peanuts
150-200g Rice*****

*Breasts, not thighs - lower fat overall. I usually use 3 and end up feeding 3 people plus a pot to freeze for later.
**If you're one of the 20% who can't stand the stuff, by all means swap with Thai basil or any other herb you prefer. If you can get the full plant every part can be used in this curry. I only had a small handful of rather tired leaves for the video, which turned out quite well for a member of the 20%.
***There are some really good quality jarred ingredients out there, they save time and effort, but if you want the exercise by all means use the real thing and get mashing. You can of course use homemade curry paste if you like.
****Coconut fat is supposed to be a 'good' fat, so you can go all in here... this is what I had in the cupboard.
*****I usually go for 50g rice per person, and add some for the pot so that I can freeze a complete meal that just needs to be nuked in the microwave.

Method:

1. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Grate off the lime zest then cut in half and set aside. Chop the coriander roots and stems quite finely, then roughly chop the leaves and set aside. Chop the onion as fine as you like (I prefer it fairly chunky). Measure your jarred pastes onto a saucer - or gather and prepare your aromatics.*
2. 1/2 fill a large pan with water and a pinch of salt for the rice.**
3. Heat the oil and add the onion and coriander stems/roots and cook for a few minutes to brown slightly*** then add the chicken and cook until all the pink is gone.
4. Squeeze over half a lime and stir to coat the chicken, then tip in the aromatics and stir well for 1 minute or until, well, aromatic, then tip in the coconut milk.
5. Stir well**** and bring to the boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer for about 10 minutes.
6. Add the greens, if using, and the fish sauce and bubble for 3-4 minutes.
7. Check the chicken is cooked - if not simmer for another 5 minutes.
8. Chop the chili, remove the seeds if you like, and stir into the sauce.
9. If you're using low fat coconut milk it probably won't be particularly thick so stir the flour into a couple of tbsps cold water then add to the sauce and bubble until thickened.
10. Remove from the heat, squeeze over the rest of the lime and stir in the coriander leaves. Taste and adjust fish sauce or lime as needed.
11. Drain the rice and serve scattered with peanuts and lime zest.

*I like to get all the prep done before I start, except the chilli - I prefer to do that as needed and get all the utensils into the dishwasher ASAP, rather than having them hanging about, risking unwanted contamination.
**I don't time this recipe, except by the rice - if I start the water, then add the rice as it boils then everything is pretty much cooked at the same time.
***This recipe doesn't use palm sugar so the added sweetness from slightly caramelized onions helps to round out the balance of flavours.
****Reduced fat coconut milk really separates in the can, and needs a lot of stirring to get everything together. Alternatively you could use 3-4tbsp coconut cream and 400ml water, but it's not quite the same.