Thai Green Curry

Mmm, homemade Thai green curry!! Like Hungarian gulyás, curry varies between households and between restaurants, and certainly you can't call this authentic. But I am in Japan, and here in the world of Asian vegetables and hungry college students, this dish has always been a hit.

Ingredients:

400-600 grams of chicken thigh
2 medium eggplants, chopped
2-4 bell peppers, chopped
200 grams of mushrooms
4-5 tablespoons of green curry paste
400 ml of canned coconut milk
chili pepper (spice)
fish sauce
lemongrass

Directions:

1) In a large saucepan, brown the chicken with the skin facing downwards without oil. Use the oil of the chicken skin to cook the opposite side.
2) Add fish sauce to taste.
3) Remove the chicken from the pan and add a dash of oil, and stir-fry the chopped vegetables. Remove vegetables when cooked.
4) Cut up the chicken to bite-sized pieces.
5) Next, fry the green curry paste over a little oil until the scent starts to spread.
6) Add chicken, chili pepper, lemongrass and vegetables.
7) After cooking for a few minutes, add the coconut milk.
8) Add a half can of water to the mixture, and bring to boil.
9) Use the fish sauce to fix the flavor to your liking, and serve over rice.

* Serves 5-7.
* Can be stored overnight - always tastes better the next day.
* Though Spanish or Thai rice is the standard accompaniment, in Japan we use the thick Japanese rice. The benefit of this is that you can form it into mini bowls and add the curry in the middle, so the sauce doesn't make the rest of the rice too soupy while eating.
* Use minimal oil.
* One added benefit - this can all be made with one large saucepan, so it's perfect for small kitchens.

Hungarian Paprikás and Nokedli (Spätzle)

Coming from a Hungarian family, my sisters and I grew up eating traditional Hungarian foods like Chicken Paprikás. An easy dish to make, it requires minimal spice and prep time, and can be on the table in about an hour. 


Ingredients:


2 large chicken breasts
1 1/2 TBSP butter
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or crushed
2 TBSP Hungarian paprika
1 bouillon cube 
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
2 tsp black pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup heavy cream


Directions:


1) Cut up chicken into bite-sized pieces and brown in skillet over butter. Remove the chicken and set aside.
2) Brown the chopped onions and garlic in the leftover butter in the pan. 
3) Move onions and chicken into a larger pot, make sure there is just enough water to cover the chicken. 
4) Bring to boil. Add bouillon cube, pepper, paprika and salt.
5) Cook on low heat until the chicken is extremely soft, usually 40 minutes. 
6) Remove chicken.
7) Add flour and heavy cream, stir until you get a gravy-like consistency.


Although this dish can be served with any kind of pasta (I often substitute fusilli) the traditional recipe calls for Nokedli (or Spätzle in German), a kind of miniature dumpling. 


Ingredients: 

• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

1) Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until the batter is smooth. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes.

2) Bring a large pot of water to boil. Salt it well.

3) Nokedli are very small noodles. You can use a slotted spoon to squeeze through dough, roll it out and cut it into small pieces, or use a piping bag to squeeze out small chunks of the dough into the boiling water. (I use a piping bag.)

4) Boil the noodles until they float to the top. (2-3 minutes) Don't crowd the pot, lest they stick together. 

5) Fish them out using a sieve and toss them in a colander. 

6) When all done, toss them with some olive oil to keep them from sticking together and serve right away.

Serving: 

1 tablespoon of sour cream and a bit of parsley

Serve the paprikás by putting the chicken on top of the nokedli and covering it with the gravy. Add the sour cream on top, and parsley on top for color!