Whole Roasted Green Curry Chicken in Coconut Milk

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It’s easy to be intimidated by recipes for homemade Thai curry paste, what with the long list of sometimes hard-to-find ingredients and all. So this recipe keeps things as simple as possible, using a slightly modified list of ingredients that can be found in most grocery stores. Throw all the ingredients into a food processor, blend until smooth, and in a few minutes you’ve got yourself some homemade Thai green curry paste.

Bright, vibrant, and aromatic, homemade curry paste hits all the senses. Packed with flavor and made from superfoods like garlic, ginger and peppers, curry paste is a remarkable condiment.

This recipe slathers a whole chicken with the magic green sauce. Roasted in coconut milk, the chicken is succulent beyond compare. The coconut milk turns into a rich sauce for the cooked chicken, and also keeps the meat moist as it cooks.

Servings: 4

Time in the Kitchen: 30 minutes hands-on, plus 60 to 90 minutes to cook

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, patted dry and seasoned generously with salt
• 8 peeled cloves garlic, divided
• 1 stalk lemongrass, outer layer peeled off, thinly sliced
• 1 or 2 green chilies, seeded and chopped (jalapenos can be used in place of Thai green chilies)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 2-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced (5 cm)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves & stems, roughly chopped (120 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander (2.5 ml)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (2.5 ml)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper (a pinch)
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce (30 ml)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (15 ml)
• 1 (13.5 fl ounce/400 ml) can coconut milk, divided
• 1 small lemon, thinly sliced

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 °F/204 °C.

In a food processor, blend 4 cloves garlic, lemongrass, green chilies, shallot, ginger, cilantro, ground coriander, cumin, pepper, fish sauce, lime juice, and 3 tablespoons coconut milk into a smooth paste. The coconut milk is added to help the ingredients form a paste, so add a little more if needed.

Rub the seasoned chicken down completely with the curry paste, over and under the skin. If you have extra curry paste, spoon it into the chicken cavity.

Heat a Dutch oven (or other ovenproof baking vessel that is slightly larger than the chicken) over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add a few tablespoons avocado oil or coconut oil. When the oil is hot, add the chicken, breast side down. Cook 4 to 6 minutes, browning the skin. Carefully flip the bird, browning it a few minutes more.

Pour the remaining coconut milk around the chicken. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the Dutch oven. Add the remaining 4 garlic cloves and the lemon slices to the coconut milk.

Cook, uncovered, 60 to 90 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. When an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest parts of the chicken reads 165 °F, the chicken is done.

Serve the chicken with the pan sauce spooned on top.

Filed under: Fitness