Chicken Curry

March 5, 2002

Our automatic garage door recently developed a mind of its own. It would almost close and then would suddenly reverse and head skyward again.

When you are selling a house, you don't exactly want to start spending more money on it. But you also want to leave things in full working order.

In the end, we couldn't ignore the fact that the door was just not behaving normally. And so The Spouse called the garage door firm and explained our plight.

Had we tried re-setting the door, asked the man on the end of the phone.

Knowledgeable man explained the process to The Spouse, saying the door had probably hit something on the way down at some stage and reset its operating parameters (or similar geek speak).

Anyway, geared up with newly acquired knowledge, The Spouse climbed the step ladder and followed instructions. The door went through its re-setting manoeuvres.

Suddenly there was an almighty explosion and The Spouse almost fell off the ladder.

There is an assembly at each side of the garage door, bolted at the bottom to the wall and comprising a couple of huge springs and hooks. A bracket at the bottom had sheared off and the stretching springs had snapped back, various parts clattering noisily to the concrete floor. We found one spring. The other was nowhere to be seen - amazing for a spring nearly a metre long We searched under the cars (both mercifully undamaged), all round the garage, out in the drive. We were totally mystified.

The mystery was solved when son Ben arrived. "It's gone through the roof," he said. Sure enough, up above was a neat round hole punctured in the plaster ceiling. I tried to remember which room was above. I had visions of the spring rocketing up through the toilet. Fortunately there was just roof space above the garage. No rooms.

That took care of what was going to be a quiet day out and about, avoiding visiting land agents and potential home buyers. The garage door wouldn't open so we couldn't get the cars out. I couldn't even potter in the kitchen for fear of ruining the House and Garden look with messy pot and pans.

I did, however, make a tasty Thai-inspired chicken curry last night.

The basis for this is a green curry paste. You can make your own or buy a pouch or jar of it from the Asian section of your supermarket, or from an Asian specialty store. It will keep quite nicely in the refrigerator and includes ingredients like lemon grass, garlic, onion, galangal, fresh and ground coriander, chillies, cumin, shrimp paste.

I made this dish in the microwave as my son was lurking around the kitchen making "I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day" noises.

Chicken Curry

2 teaspoons oil
1 1/2 tablespoons green curry paste
400g chicken fillets, diced
1 small can coconut milk (about 1 cup)
200g green beans cut into 1cm lengths
2 medium tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped fresh Thai basil
extra basil for garnish

Slice the onion and place in a microwave-proof dish with the oil and green curry paste. Stir to combine then heat on full power for 90 seconds. Add the chicken, beans and coconut milk and combine well. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, stirring a couple of times during cooking. Add the cored, chopped tomatoes during the last minute. Leave to rest for two minutes then serve on plain boiled long-grain rice. Garnish with the extra Thai basil.

This is a nice, light curry, perfect for a jaded summer palate that has tasted one salad too many lately.