Lessons learned: Never take things you love for granted. In this case it was the Galley Pirates website. It’s been dormant for years; checking on it only occasionally to find the moussaka recipe or exactly what goes into crab cake sliders. I ignored it enough to miss all the error messages from WordPress. So after a complete failure, I realized it was time the site needed some real lovin’; a resurrection. Now we are back on track with Friday morning recipes and Thursday evening Instagram limericks. And we are starting off with fragrant and spicy, garden-fresh Thai Green Curry. Happy to be back with our Galley Pirates community!

I was inspired to make Green Curry when our late-blooming marina garden was filled with Japanese eggplants, long cayenne peppers and loads of Thai basil. These are ingredients that are hard to find at your local grocer so best to take advantage of them when they’re growing fresh.

Most Green Curry recipes call for green curry paste, the kind you’d buy at the store. Very understandable as making the paste is laborious. But you can’t beat the flavor of home-made green curry paste. Every recipe I have found for green curry paste is different, but I’ve combined what I think is the best of all pastes into the following:

Green Curry Paste

8-10 long Thai chilis (or cayennes)
1-2 hot peppers, such as serrano or habanero
2 6″ stalks of lemon grass
2-3 thumb sized pieces of galangal (can substitute ginger)
1 thumb size piece of turmeric (optional)
Rind of half a lime, shaved or micro-planed (preferably Makrut lime)
2 shallots, minced
5-6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 chopped Thai basil
1 tsp shrimp paste (optional)
Kosher salt to taste

Dry fry:
3 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds

Dry fry the coriander and cumin seeds until fragrant. Watch carefully as they can burn quickly. Remove from heat and grind into a powder.

That’s the easy part of making Green Curry Paste. Now comes the work. All of the above ingredients need to be pulverized into a paste. That can be done in a variety of ways. Traditionally, a mortar and pestle best releases the oils and flavor. But after 5 minutes of pounding you will most likely be headed to the Asian aisle of your grocery store looking for a jar of Green Curry Paste. I get that.

Mince all the ingredients above so it will be easier to pound or grind into a paste. Being on a sailboat we minimize our equipment and shun the “one use only” heavy tools. That includes a stone mortar and pestle. I improvised with my wooden ulu bowl and a rock. It started out ok, then I got tired and it seemed I was making no progress. Out came the mini electric chopper.

Thai Green Curry

Serves 4-5

4 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup green curry paste
2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into 1″ pieces
1 cup chicken broth (can be made with bouillon)
2 tablespoons palm sugar or light brown sugar
1+ tablespoon fish sauce
Kaffir lime leaves (if you can find them)
2 Japanese eggplants, sliced into 1″ pieces
2/3 cup snow peas
1/2 cup bamboo shoots
1/2 cup baby corn
1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a little water to thicken if need be
3/4 cup Thai basil leaves

Pour 1 cup of coconut milk in a large deep pan and simmer for 5-10 minutes until it reduces and thickens a bit. Add the curry paste and simmer while stirring a a couple more minutes. Leave your portholes open. This will be very fragrant and spark interest amongst your neighbors.

Add the chicken, 2+ cups coconut milk and the chicken broth. Cook for about 5 minutes until the chicken starts to cook through.

Add the eggplant to the pot. (Note: I put too much eggplant in this and removed about half of what is shown above.) Cook for about 8 minutes until the eggplant is fork tender.

Add the snow peas, bamboo shoots and baby corn and continue cooking until the snow peas are al dente. Green Curry can be made with any variety of vegetables.

If your curry ends up being too thin (a lot of moisture exudes from the cooked eggplant) mix a tablespoon of cornstarch to a little water and add to your curry pot. This will thicken in up and be ready for serving.

Before serving break up the Thai basil leaves and stir into the curry. Place a scoop of jasmine rice in each bowl and pour a couple cups of Green Curry on top. Garnish with some red pepper for added color.

You will have plenty to share with guests in your marina! Comments from one member of the growing family below is that the fresh eggplant is a big improvement from Green Curry you get in Thai restaurants, which can often be overcooked. Using chicken thighs enhances the flavor and doesn’t dry out like chicken breasts can.