As the evenings draw in, I can’t help but eat comfort food. I keep moaning about my weight and I know I need to lose around half a stone, but it is just too tempting to cook an easy, hearty meal before settling down for the evening. So tonight, I went for a dish I have cooked hundreds of times before! It’s quick, easy and extremely tasty.  It serves 4-6 people and I always have some left over which I take in to work for lunch the next day. When you first cook this, it seems like a lot of ingredients to buy, however, many of them can be used numerous times. It is around £4.00 per portion, however, it is cheap compared to a Thai takeaway or a meal out!Prep time: 10 minutes/ Cooking time: 25 minutes.Ingredients:

• 1 jar red or green Thai curry paste – I just use the Asda one as it’s cheaper and in my opinion, actually tastes better than the branded ones! Use 3 heaped tablespoons.
• 1 can coconut milk (I use reduced fat, but it is slightly watery).
• 2 coconut creme sachets.
• 2 red onions chopped.     
• 1 red/ yellow pepper in large chunks.
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed.
• Fresh ginger (around the size of a 10p piece, or to taste).
• Half a stem of lemongrass, finely chopped (you can freeze whatever lemongrass and ginger you have left over for next time).
• 1 red chilli finely chopped.
• 3 limes – use the zest of all 3 and the juice.
• 1 tbsp brown sugar.
• 3-4 kaffir lime leaves.
• 1 tbsp fish sauce.
• 3 chicken breasts diced (you can make this with any meat or fish but cooking times will vary).
• Rice to serve the curry with.

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a pan then add the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, pepper and lemongrass. Sweat these off for 7 minutes.  
2. Add the chicken to pan, along with the zest of the three limes. Cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the fish sauce, sugar, and lime leaves to the pan and mix.
4. Add the curry paste to the pan and stir. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes. 
5. In the meantime, put some water onto boil for the rice.
6. Add the whole tin of coconut milk to the curry, as well as the lime juice and two coconut sachets – the sachets are to thicken the curry so it has a nicer texture.
7. Add rice to the water once it has boiled and leave to simmer for 10-12 minutes.
8. Put a lid over the curry and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Once the rice is cooked, drain it and place a towel over the sieve for 2 minutes so it doesn’t go stodgy. Turn the heat off the curry so it is ready to serve.
10. Serve with Thai crackers.

Enjoy!