Here is a recipe from my book Cupboard Love, published by Hodder in 2005. It is not massively authentic, but is a good workaday green curry. I nearly always buy my thai paste, as the brand Namjai (available in most oriental supermarkets) makes excellent tubs of it that last for ages and, more importantly, don't contain any nonsense. Otherwise you will need to kit yourself out with quite a few store cupboard ingredients, of which gapi (or fermented shrimp paste) is essential...and smelly! If you are a big fan of the genre, you should try David Thompson's authoritative but massively readable Thai food (Pavilion books 2002) . Feel free to use small slivers of chicken breast instead of thighs if you are short of time. You could substitute another meat instead. Duck goes nicely with Green curry, as does pork.

For 2 people you need:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 chicken thighs
2 generous tablespoons green curry paste
400ml tin of coconut milk
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
juice of 1/2 lime (or 1 tablespoon bottled lime juice)
3 lime leaves
1 small tin (about 200g) bamboo shoots, drained (optional)
3 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
a handful of Thai basil or coriander leaves

Heat the oil in a wok, add the chicken thighs and brown them all over. Remove and set aside. Add the curry paste to the wok with a couple of tablespoons of the coconut milk, then stir and fry until the paste has loosened. Return the chicken pieces to the pan with the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and lime leaves. Add the remaining coconut milk, then immediately half fill the tin with water and add this to the wok. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken pieces are cooked through. Add the bamboo shoots, if using, and heat them through. Now taste and adjust the seasoning if you want the curry sweeter, hotter, saltier. Add the spring onions and basil or coriander as you serve up.