Red Thai Chicken Curry

During our visit last month to the amazing MacNean House and Restaurant in County Cavan, we were very fortunate to meet the main man, Neven Maguire, who kindly chatted to us and gave us a gift of a signed copy of his book, "Neven's Country Living Volume 2". You can read more about our fantastic experience here.
I sat down recently and went through his book, ear-marking various recipes I'd like to try, of which there were many. This is the first one I tried and I thought it was so delicious, simple to cook and so satisfying, I had to blog about it. Neven calls this his Curried Chicken in Coconut Milk. I have slightly adapted the recipe and it serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 3 large/4 regular sized chicken breasts, chopped into thin strips or diced
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped into long, thin slices
• A handful of frozen whole green beans
• 1 large tbsp red curry paste
• 300 ml chicken stock
• 400 g can coconut milk
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt
• Chopped fresh coriander or parsley and lime wedges, to serve
• Basmati rice (*tip to follow!)

Method:

1. Heat a wok or frying pan with the sunflower to a good hot heat.
2. Tip in the chicken pieces and cook for a few moments, until golden brown.
3. Add the onion, red pepper, garlic and ginger and cook for a further 3 - 4 minutes.
4. Stir through the red curry paste and mix everything together well, cooking for about 2 minutes.
5. Pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk, reduce the heat and add the salt and sugar; remembering to check and adjust your seasoning.
6. Allow the curry to continue to cook while simmering and after 10 minutes add in and stir through the whole green beans, from frozen.
7. Let everything simmer for a further 5 minutes and you're ready to serve up.
8. Dish up with fluffy basmati rice, spooning the red curry on top, topping with some freshly chopped herbs and a wedge of lime.
9. *Now for my can't go wrong basmati tip - simples!...For 2 people, I always add 1 small cup of basmati rice (an actual drinking cup!) to a saucepan, which must have a lid that fits! Add 2 of the same cup's worth of cold water in on top and a good sprinkle of salt. Bring to the boil and keep at a rolling boil for 3 - 4 minutes. Reduce the heat to very low and pop the lid on your rice. Leave the water to evaporate completely, which should take under 10 minutes. Turn the heat off completely, fluff up your rice with a fork and serve! Just to note that once the heat has been turned off, the rice can be left, lid untouched for anther 15 minutes or so, and should remain warm and fluffy and perfect to eat!