The secret is crushed almonds in the paste. They lend the curry a lovely mild nuttiness, and also a little bit of crunch here and there. I loved it, and thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers too.

The Ingredients

• 1 packet of green curry paste (yes, cheating)
• handful of fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup of flaked almonds
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 15 large raw prawns, shelled and rinsed
• 20 or so green beans
• 1 red onion, finely sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 nugget of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 lime
• Sesame oil, Olive oil

The Method

Yes yes I'm CHEATING by using bought curry paste. However, I added a couple of things to the paste that really made it sing, and the result was too good to not share.

Also, this is a QUICK curry - it's not the kind that you simmer for ages. I wanted the beans to still taste of beans and the prawns to have some bite in them still. It turned out splendidly.

Makes 3 servings.

1) Dry-fry the almonds in a hot pan, tossing regularly so they don't catch and burn. When slightly browned and fragrant, take them off the heat and reserve in a bowl.

2) Put the curry paste in a blender with a little sesame oil, 90% of the almonds (you need to save a few for scattering at the end) and about 10 or so basil leaves. Pulse to make a rough paste - you still want to be able to see bits of almond.

3) Heat a large pan with a little oil. Fry the red onion until soft, then add the paste. Fry until fragrant, lower the heat and add the coconut milk. Add freshly boiled water to create a consistency you like.

4) Season the shrimp with curry salt (an amazing tip when cooking seafood). In a separate pan, fry the garlic and ginger with a little olive oil on a high heat. Add the prawns and keep them moving, they will cook in just a couple of minutes. Season with a little pepper and squeeze over the juice of the lime. Take off the heat.

5) Rinse the beans, shake dry and wrap in cling film. Nuke in the microwave for 1 minute (seriously, an excellent way to quickly cook veg).

6) Add the prawns and the beans to the curry pan. Stir well and simmer for just a few minutes. Taste and season. You want to eat it when the beans and prawns still have some bite. Done.

Serve with rice and scatter over the leftover almonds and basil leaves.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License. The original article is here:
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