It was meant to be a perfect Saturday afternoon ‘weatherwise’, until it started raining cats and dogs in the morning when we set out for Whiz Café, for our rendezvous with H.E Ms. Pattarat Hongtong. Ambassador of Thailand to India. It was only when we reached and found fellow foodies all chipper, did we realise that it could still be every bit of the ‘perfect’ Saturday afternoon we’d imagined. Whiz Café is the dine-in section of the Whizdom Club, the state-of-the art co-working space loacted in the Savitri complex of GK 2 Market. People from the Royal Thai Embassy came down for the event ‘Namaste Thai Flavours 2021’, which was essentially a homely Thai lunch comprising Thai green chicken curry with bamboo shoots, Jasmine rice, fried tofu with Thai sweet and chilli sauce, two sweet, sour and crispy vermicelli rice cakes, with Tamarind sauce. For the desserts we were served steamed layered-rice cakes, with a peculiar translucent blue colour. Speaking of vivid colours, we were also served the Butterfly pea tea, the lovely purple-coloured drink, was a refreshing lemonade with hint of cumin.
But before we sat down for the lunch, the chef from the Embassy also enthralled us with a live cook-out session. She cooked a simple Thai Green curry; we were also told that some of the vegetables on the table that were plucked directly from the Embassy garden. We also learnt that the whole ‘curry culture’ travelled to Thailand via India. Indian curry is thick, rich and savoury, whereas Thai curry is very soothing and pale in colour. You get a citrusy smell, the taste is also very light. In the process, we picked up some handy tips such, adding coconut milk gradually to the curry paste or soy sauce can be used as an alternative for fish sauce. Thai curry can be made with anything from pork to chicken. Veg Thai green curry can be done with tofu.
Here’s how you can make the Thai green curry like the chef.
1. Heat up the pan.
2. Add 3-4 tbsp of coconut milk. Keep stirring so it doesn’t get clamped up.
3. Add about 2 tbsp of green curry paste. Keep stirring until well-combined.
4. Now throw in a cup of boneless chicken. Keep stirring, by this time your kitchen should be filled with a lovely aroma.
5. Now very gradually add coconut milk, about 15-16 tbsp should suffice for the mix you prepared. Keep stirring.
6. Post this add about 3 tsp fish sauce.
7. Then add 2 tsp of palm sugar. Mix everything well. And do so on low flame only
8. A pinch of Keffir lime leaves, basil and red chillies go in next. Mix for a minute or two. And you are done.
9. Serve hot with garnish of Keffir lime leaves and more red chillies.
10. Think you can recreate this simple recipe at home. Do give it a try.
