Green Curry

The name is a small lesson in Thai: kĭeow wăan means “sweet green”, and that green comes entirely from fresh chillies and herbs. Get the paste right and the whole curry follows — which is exactly why we make ours from scratch, every day, and don’t mess with the OG recipe.

In the kitchen

It starts in the mortar: green chillies, coriander root, galangal, lemongrass, garlic and shrimp paste pounded by hand into a fragrant, glossy paste. We fry that paste in thick coconut cream until the green oil breaks to the surface — the moment the kitchen fills with its smell — then loosen it back to a lush sauce around chicken, Thai aubergine and vegetables. A fistful of sweet basil goes in right at the end, off the heat, so it perfumes rather than wilts away.

At the table

It arrives a soft jade green, glossy and fragrant, the basil still bright on top. It’s rich and rounded, and the heat creeps up gently while you’re distracted by how good it smells. This is the curry we’d point a newcomer toward — and the one regulars order without thinking.

Spoon it over rice, never the other way around.