Serves  4
Preparation time 20 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes

• 1 tin coconut milk
• 150g shiitake mushrooms, quartered or sliced
• 3-4 chicken breast fillets, cut into pieces
• 150g tenderstem broccoli
• Thai fragrant rice, to serve
• fresh coriander, to serve

Yellow curry paste

• 1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped
• 2-3 red chillies, seeded and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 5cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 5ml ground coriander
• 5ml ground cumin
• 2.5ml cumin seeds
• 1.5ml cinnamon
• 15ml fish sauce
• 2.5ml shrimp paste (or fish sauce)
• 5ml turmeric or 3cm piece fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped
• 1.5ml white pepper
• 15ml palm or brown sugar
• 45ml lime or lemon juice
• 10ml tomato paste

1 Make the yellow curry paste by blending all the ingredients together in a small food processor or pestle and mortar. Add a little coconut milk until the mixture forms a smooth paste.

2 Heat a wok over high heat and add 20-30ml of the curry paste and about 30ml of the remaining coconut milk. Fry until fragrant.

3 Add the mushrooms and remaining coconut milk and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken and broccoli and stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes, or until cooked. Serve on a bed of rice, garnished with fresh coriander.

Shiitake mushrooms contain beta-glucans and selenium, compounds known to boost immunity, while onions, ginger and garlic support immunity as sources of vitamin C, potassium, chromium, and selenium. Turmeric is the spice with the highest immune-boosting power. Broccoli contains carotenoids that get broken down to vitamin A in the body where it helps immunity at a cellular level. The coconut oil in coconut milk contains lauric acid, which helps to attack viruses, bacteria and pathogens.

Text and image: Ideas magazine