A Guide to Cooking Chicken Thai Green Curry with New Potatoes: A Summer Favourite with a Thai Twist
This green curry came together on a summer afternoon when I wanted something light but genuinely satisfying. New potatoes were in season, the green beans were fresh, and a Thai green curry felt like exactly the right thing to do with them. The result is a curry that is lighter than a traditional version but no less flavourful. The coconut milk keeps it creamy, the paste brings the heat, and the seasonal vegetables do the rest.
A word on spice before you start. Mae Jum Thai Green Curry Paste is made with real fresh chillies and carries genuine heat. If you are cooking for younger children or anyone who prefers a gentler dish, start with 20 g of paste rather than the full 35 g and build from there. The 400 ml of coconut milk does a good job of tempering the heat, but even at the full quantity this curry has a noticeable kick. This recipe is also gluten-free and straightforward to make plant-based. Swap the chicken for tofu and the fish sauce for light soya sauce and the rest of the recipe stays exactly the same.
What Makes Thai Green Curry Special
Thai green curry manages to be bold and delicate at the same time. It carries the heat and aromatics that Thai cuisine is known for, yet the coconut milk creates a sauce that is rich, creamy, and surprisingly light on the palate. Fiery yet soothing, complex yet fresh, it is this balance that sets it apart from other curry styles.
The green colour comes from fresh green chillies, coriander, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves blended into the paste. The moment the paste hits a hot pan the kitchen fills with a citrusy, herbal aroma that is instantly recognisable. This version grounds that classic base with a British seasonal twist. New potatoes soak up the curry sauce as they cook, adding a subtle earthiness that sits naturally alongside the creaminess of the coconut milk. Paired with crisp green beans and tenderstem broccoli, it is a dish that brings together Thai tradition and the best of a British summer harvest.
Origins: Where Does Thai Green Curry Come From
Thai green curry, known in Thailand as Gaeng Keow Wan (แกงเขียวหวาน), which translates roughly as "sweet green curry", has its roots in the central plains of Thailand. Unlike many curry traditions that date back centuries, Thai green curry is a relatively modern creation. Most food historians believe it emerged in the early 20th century, likely during the reign of King Rama VI or VII.
The dish developed as Thai cooks began incorporating fresh green chillies, introduced to Thailand via Portuguese traders from the Americas, into their existing curry paste traditions. Before the arrival of chillies, Thai curries relied on long pepper and other native spices for heat. The green chilli brought not only a new kind of heat but also a fresh, grassy flavour that gave the paste its distinctive character.
Central Thai cooking, the style from which green curry originates, is known for its use of coconut milk, fresh herbs, and aromatic pastes. The central region, which includes Bangkok, sits in a fertile river basin giving cooks access to an abundant range of herbs, vegetables, and proteins. That abundance is reflected in the generous layering of flavours you find in a well-made green curry.
Over time Thai green curry spread beyond Thailand's borders and became one of the most widely recognised Thai dishes internationally. It works with chicken, beef, tofu, seafood, and a wide range of vegetables, making it one of the most adaptable curry recipes in the world.
Key Ingredients
Mae Jum Thai Green Curry Paste is the foundation of the dish, made with fresh green chillies, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime zest, coriander root, garlic, and shallots. Frying it properly in coconut oil before adding any liquid is the most important step in building the flavour of the sauce.
Coconut Milk transforms the paste into a silky sauce. Full-fat gives the best results, creating a sauce that is rich without being heavy. It also tempers the heat of the paste, and the 400 ml used here strikes a good balance between creaminess and depth.
New Potatoes are where the British seasonal element comes in. Waxy and firm, they hold their shape well during cooking and absorb the coconut sauce beautifully as they simmer. Used in June or July when they are freshly dug, they bring a natural sweetness and earthiness that works particularly well in a coconut-based curry.
Green Beans and Tenderstem Broccoli add texture, colour, and a slight bitterness that cuts through the richness of the coconut milk. Both cook quickly and hold their shape well, keeping the dish feeling light rather than heavy.
Kaffir Lime Leaves and Sweet Thai Basil are added off the heat at the end. Both are delicate aromatics that lose their fragrance quickly when exposed to high heat. The residual warmth of the curry is enough to release their fragrance without destroying it. Sweet Thai basil is not the same as Italian basil. It has a slightly aniseed quality and a more robust flavour that is essential to an authentic green curry.
Fish Sauce and Palm Sugar are the seasoning backbone. Fish sauce provides a savoury, umami depth and palm sugar rounds out the heat with a gentle sweetness. Together they create the characteristic balance that makes Thai food so satisfying.
Cooking Tips
Fry the paste properly. Give it a full two minutes on medium-high heat before adding any liquid. This cooks off the raw flavour of the garlic and shallots and releases the essential oils of the lemongrass, galangal, and chilli. Do not rush this step.
Add the chicken before the coconut milk. Coating the chicken in the fried paste before adding the liquid means the meat absorbs the concentrated flavour of the paste directly. It also gives the chicken a head start on cooking so it stays tender by the time the sauce is ready.
Simmer, not boil. Once the coconut milk is in, a gentle simmer is all you need. A hard boil will cause the coconut milk to split, resulting in an oily sauce rather than a creamy one.
Season at the end. Fish sauce and palm sugar go in near the end of cooking once you can taste the balance of the sauce. Add the fish sauce gradually and make sure the palm sugar has fully dissolved before tasting and adjusting further.
How to Cook It
The full step-by-step recipe is in the recipe card below, but here is how the dish comes together.
Fry the curry paste in coconut oil for two minutes until the fragrant aromatic oils are released from the paste. Add the chicken and stir fry for 3 to 4 minutes, coating every piece in the paste before any liquid goes in. Pour in the coconut milk, add the new potatoes, and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes begin to soften and the chicken is cooked through.
Add the green beans and tenderstem broccoli and simmer for a further 5 to 7 minutes until the vegetables are just tender. Season with fish sauce and palm sugar, stirring until the sugar has fully dissolved. Taste and adjust. Turn off the heat and fold in the kaffir lime leaves and sweet Thai basil, letting the residual warmth draw out their fragrance.
Serve immediately over steamed jasmine rice, garnished with a few extra Thai basil leaves. A wedge of fresh lime on the side lets people adjust the brightness to their own taste.
Final Thought
There's something deeply satisfying about bringing summer vegetables into a Thai curry. In my mother's kitchen in the South, we've always believed that the best dishes work with what the season gives you—not against it. New potatoes, when they're young and waxy, hold their shape beautifully in the heat of the curry, and that delicate creaminess from the coconut milk carries the paste without drowning the vegetable's own sweetness. It's the kind of meal that feels fresh on a warm day, nourishing without heaviness.
In Southern Thai tradition, we have a saying: *"อาหารง่ายๆ ที่ทำด้วยใจ เป็นอาหารที่อร่อยที่สุด"* (Ah-harn ngen-nai thee tum duay jai, pen ah-harn thee ah-roy thee suut) — simple food made with heart is the most delicious food. This curry is exactly that. When you fry the paste at the beginning, you're waking up the spices, releasing their aroma into the oil so they perfume everything that follows. That's not just technique; it's respect for the ingredients and the time someone spent grinding them by hand. Mae Jum's paste carries that intention with every spoonful.
If you've never made curry at home before, or if you've only known the jarred versions from supermarket shelves, this will change something for you. The flavour is brighter, cleaner, more alive. Serve it with jasmine rice and eat it slowly, noticing how the heat builds gently, how the basil catches in your breath. That's Southern Thai cooking—nothing hidden, nothing artificial, just good ingredients doing what they're meant to do.
Chicken Thai Green Curry with New Potatoes
- 1 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 35 g Mae Jum Green Curry Paste
- 1 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 1 tbsp Palm Sugar
- 400 ml Coconut milk
- 350 g Chicken breast
- 175 g New potatoes
- 100 g Green beans
- 50 g Tenderstem broccoli
- 100 ml Water
- 3 Kaffir Lime Leaves
- — Sweet Thai basil
Thai Green Curry Paste
Can I add mushrooms and baby corn etc if so how many thanks
The recipes need more detail but remain simple — thanks
I love to cook healty asian foods