Thai Green Curry Fried Rice

This recipe for Thai Green Curry Fried Rice features jasmine rice stir-fried with a fragrant green curry paste cooked with chicken and vegetables.

What is curry?

Curry refers to a dish with a sauce flavored by a mixture of spices.

There are many regional varieties of curry, characterized by the use of different spices.

There are 3 colored types of curry: yellow (most commonly associated with Indian-style curries), red (Thai curry, using red chilies) and green (Thai curry, using green chilies).

What is green curry?

Green curry is a type of curry originating from Thailand.

It consists of a green paste typically made of green chilies, shallot, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, coriander leaves, cumin seed, shrimp paste and salt.

The green paste is cooked in coconut milk, in varying amounts to create a thin or thick curry.

Green curry paste is available in shelf-stable packaging in Asian grocery stores and large supermarkets.

Is green curry spicy?

Generally, green curry is made with green cayenne chili peppers and considered very spicy.

However, it can vary with different brands and regions. 

How to use green curry paste

A little bit goes a long way -- if you are new to spice, start with 1 tablespoon of green curry paste.

I do love a fiery spiciness to my food, so my recipe is definitely for spice lovers. If you can't handle spice, use less curry paste.

What is Thai green curry fried rice?

Unlike Chinese fried rice, which is a dry-style method of frying rice quickly over a hot wok, green curry fried rice is cooked in a different manner.

Green curry fried rice is a Thai dish consisting of green curry paste cooked with protein, eggplant, peppers, a little coconut milk and jasmine rice.

The rice is stir-fried with the green curry, until it absorbs all the curry flavor, and yields a moist, but not overly wet (it shouldn't look like soup!), and not dry texture.

Ingredients you'll need

• vegetable oil: for sautéing the aromatics
• shallot: minced
• chicken breast: cut into small chunks
• garlic: minced
• kaffir lime leaves: these are green leaves with an lime-like aroma; you can find these fresh or frozen in Asian supermarkets
• green curry paste: I prefer using Aroy-D brand curry paste, which is very concentrated in flavor; a little bit goes a long way so start off with a bit and adjust to your taste
• coconut milk: preferably canned, full-fat
• granulated sugar: or palm sugar
• cooked jasmine rice
• bell pepper: cut into small 1" pieces
• eggplant: roasted; or pea aubergine
• fresh Thai basil: torn

How to make Thai green curry fried rice

In a wok over high heat, add in vegetable oil and shallot.

Stir fry until shallot is fragrant.

Add in chicken and continue to stir fry until the chicken is cooked through.

Add garlic, kaffir lime leaves, green curry paste and sauté for about 1 minute, until fragrant.

Pour in coconut milk and mix in with the green curry paste.

Add in the cooked rice and stir to coat everything evenly.

Add in bell pepper and cook for a few minutes, before adding in the roasted eggplant.

Stir to combine everything and turn off the heat.

Toss in fresh Thai basil and and give it one last mix.

Serve with sliced cucumbers and fried egg (if desired).

How to store & reheat

Store any leftover green curry fried rice in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Cover and reheat the fried rice in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, until the rice is steaming hot.

Substitutions

You can easily swap out the chicken for another protein such as tofu, pork, or beef.

If you can find pea aubergine, you can add that in as that is a traditional ingredient in Thai green curry.

Depending on how salty the green curry paste is, you can add fish sauce to the dish to add more savory flavor. My green curry paste is quite salty so I did not need to add any fish sauce to it.

Expert tips

Depending on the brand, green curry paste can be very spicy. You can adjust the amount of green curry paste according to your taste. I prefer using Aroy-D brand's curry paste.

If the curry is too spicy, use less green curry paste and add more coconut milk and sugar to help balance out the heat, or add more rice.

The rice grains should absorb the curry sauce with no excess moisture.

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