Seared green curry chicken

Like lasagna and pasta dishes that I have made, you can file this under "Dish I Never Liked But Made To If I Could Find A Version I Enjoy."

That's right, I am not a fan of Thai Green Curry as far as Thai food goes. Give me an assertive red curry or heady Massaman curry any day. Green curry, like Japanese curry, is a little too pansy for my liking. However, this recipe for Coconut Milk Braised Chicken by The Endless Meal hinted great promise and I immediately earmarked it for our monthly cookout.

A few simple tricks upped the ante for this dish:
- Dark meat only. There was no way you could make me eat chicken breast and I am glad my fellow diners appreciated the legs-over-boobs mentality.
- Browning the meat celebrates the gloriousness of Millard reaction and gives it tremendous flavour. Don't skip this step.
- Toasted almond silvers for added crunch. Nuts in curry? Hey, why not!

I highly recommend trying this dish out, especially if your heart beats for green curry. It might make you re-think your allegiance for other green curry dishes. And of course like most entertaining recipes that I love these days, it is an awesome make ahead dish!

Seared green curry chicken
Adapted from The Endless Meal
Serves 6-8

• 1-1.5 kg chicken legs
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon very finely chopped lemongrass
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
• 400ml unsweetened coconut milk
• 200g green curry paste (You can make your own curry paste but Dancing Chef makes a pretty darn good version and I didn't see a need to re-invent that wheel.)
• ½ cup chopped basil

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine the lemongrass, sea salt and ginger in a small bowl. Pour in 1 tablespoon of oil and mix together well.
3. Using your hands carefully separate the skin from the meat. Spread the lemongrass, sea salt and ginger rub under the skin. (Tip from The Endless Meal: Be careful not to get it on the skin as the lemongrass and ginger will burn when you're browning the chicken.)
4. Place the chicken in the pot and brown it on all sides.
5. Once the chicken is browned on all sides (about 10 minutes), remove it from the pot. Pour out most of the oil then, add the coconut milk and green curry paste. 
6. Put the chicken back in the pot, cover the pot and put it in the preheated oven.
7. Braise the chicken for 70-80 mins.
8. Serve immediately, or wait for it to cool before keeping it in the fridge. 

To reheat the chicken

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Remove the chicken from the fridge 
3. Scoop the green curry sauce over the chicken as it might have congealed. 
4. Reheat the chicken for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the chicken is steaming and hot.
5. Transfer the chicken and the sauce to a platter (or you could keep it in the pot), and wow your fellow diners.