Green Bean Curry (Aka Country Curry or Jungle Curry)

Jungle curry skips the coconut milk. That’s what makes it different from most Thai curries. The broth is thin, clear, and intensely flavored, letting the red curry paste hit you directly without a creamy buffer.

Fry the curry paste in oil for about a minute until fragrant. That blooming step activates the aromatics in the paste, lemongrass, galangal, chili, and releases their essential oils into the oil. Then 6 cups of chicken broth go in with a pound of fresh green beans and bamboo shoots.

The beans cook until very done on purpose. This isn’t a crisp-tender stir fry. You want the green beans soft enough to have absorbed the curry broth deep into their fibers. That takes a hard boil followed by a sustained simmer. By the end, each bean tastes like curry through and through.

Kitchen Tips

• Fry the curry paste first. Don’t skip this step. Raw curry paste in broth tastes flat. Frying it wakes up every ingredient in the paste.
• Keep an eye on the liquid. A rapid boil reduces the broth fast. Add water if it drops below the beans before they’re done.
• Use fresh green beans if possible. Frozen work but they start softer and won’t absorb as much curry flavor.
• Bamboo tips over sliced shoots. Tips are more tender and absorb flavor better than the thin pre-sliced kind.

Variations

• Add protein: Stir in sliced chicken breast or firm tofu during the last 10 minutes of cooking.
• Coconut version: Add ½ cup coconut milk at the end if you want a creamier, milder curry.
• Carrot coins: Substitute or supplement the bamboo shoots with sliced carrots for a slightly sweeter, more colorful bowl.