This green curry recipe is one of the best I’ve ever made. It’s also good made with chicken. If you’re using chicken, just slice into finger-sized strips and stir-fry it with the paste for around 8 minutes before adding the other ingredients. The paste is easy to make up so you could blitz up a double batch and keep half for a meal later in the week

serves 4

Ingredients

• ½ butternut squash
• 1 red pepper
• 120g baby corn
• ½ a fresh red chilli
• 1 tablespoon groundnut oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ½ x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 75g mange tout
• 1 lime
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• for the green curry paste
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 2 spring onions
• 1 fresh green chilli
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3cm fresh ginger
• a small bunch of fresh coriander
• ½ teaspoon coriander seeds
• optional: 4 fresh or dried lime leaves
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• optional: ½ tablespoon fish sauce

To prepare your curry

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• Preheat the oven to 190ΊC/375ΊF/gas 5
• Carefully halve the butternut squash, then scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard
• Chop the squash into 3cm chunks, leaving the peel on but removing any thick skin

To prepare your curry

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• Halve and deseed the red pepper and cut into 3cm chunks
• Add the squash and the pepper to a roasting tray
• Drizzle with a lug of olive oil

To prepare your curry

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• Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and toss together
• Roast in the hot oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden and slightly charred
• Remove from the oven and put aside

To make your green curry paste

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• Trim the lemongrass stalks, peel back and discard the outer leaves, bash them a few times with the heel of your hand or a rolling pin to crush them
• Trim the spring onions
• Halve and deseed the green chillies

To make your green curry paste

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• Peel and roughly chop the garlic and ginger
• Set aside a few sprigs of fresh coriander
• Whiz the rest in a food processor with the lemongrass stalks, spring onions, chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds and lime leaves (if using), until everything is finely chopped – the smell will be amazing!

To make your green curry paste

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• While whizzing, pour in the soy sauce and fish sauce, if using
• Blitz again until you have a smooth paste
• If you don’t have a food processor, chop everything by hand as finely as you can – it may take a while but it will be so worth it

To cook your curry

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• Finely chop the red chilli and put to one side
• Place a large pan or wok over a high heat
• When it’s really hot, add the groundnut and sesame oils, swirl them around, then carefully drop in the baby corn and your green curry paste and stir-fry for about 30 seconds

To cook your curry

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• Pour in the coconut milk and stock
• Add the mangetout, roasted squash and roasted pepper
• Give it all a good stir, bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes

To cook your curry

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• Have a taste and add a bit more soy sauce if you think it needs it
• Push down on the lime and roll it around to get the juices going, then cut it in half
• Squeeze the juice into the pan – this will give your curry a lovely twang

To serve your curry

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• Pick the leaves off the remaining coriander sprigs
• Serve the curry sprinkled with the coriander leaves and the chopped red chilli, and some fluffy rice