Spices, stories and secrets of a Thai chickpea -curry: in the kitchen with Alexandra Green

Her professional journey was just as rich and led her from Malaysia to Sydney and finally to the British Museum in London, where she became the first curator to dedicate only Southeast Asia. The region, she explains, extends from Myanmar and Thailand to Indonesia and the Philippines, and the museum’s collection has over 33,000 objects from these different cultures.

The art of a quick curry

On this special afternoon, Alexandra demonstrates her commercial chickpea curry a dish, which is not strictly traditional, embodies the adaptability and creativity of domestic food. “Chickpeas are not very standard in Thai cooking,” she admits, “but it is actually a dish that I really like. It’s easy and you can make it as chic as you want.”

The recipe is flexible and ensures busy schedules and different tastes. “If you just try to get dinner on the table, you can shred garlic and coriander and use a black pepper grater. But today we go by authenticity – everything by hand.” The kitchen fills with the rhythmic sound of ingredients that are crushed and release their oils and fragrances.

The spice route: a journey through history

The conversation soon turns to the spices – these aromatic treasures that have shaped kitchen and economies for centuries. “Southeast Asia is the source of many spices,” explains Alexandra. “The cloves, nutmeg, corn and cinnamon all initially came from Southeast Asia and were then planted elsewhere.”

It describes how the spice trade fueled global connections long before modern supermarkets made coconut milk and curry powder household sewer. “The Europeans only made it to Southeast Asia about 500 years ago. Before that, there was a huge ocean trade route that sailed in Africa and over the Indian Ocean into the South China Sea and in the Indonesian archipelago.”

“Spices are a way to build bridges and deal with other people,” reflects Alexandra and emphasizes the power of food to combine cultures.

A quirky turn of tradition

As a curry, Alexandra hits his unusual mix of spices. “What is unusual is the curry powder, which consists of cumin, coriander seeds, turmeric and paprika. Thai cooking tends to use more ginger, garlic, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass and peppercorns that are normally hit in a paste.” In Thailand, she notes, Curry pastes are often freshly bought from the market, beaten in front of dawn and sold in fragrant hills.

The dish is ready with coconut milk, potatoes, chickpeas and a spacious, handful of Thai basil. “If you cannot get Thai basil, enter some mint or coriander leaves,” she suggests. Flexibility is the key: “You can skip the potatoes if you want less carbohydrates, or add more liquid from the chickpea dose and serve with rice noodles.”

A collection beyond the plate

Alexandra’s expertise goes far beyond the kitchen. In the British Museum, she takes care of thousands of objects, fish traps and mortar to baskets to steam rice and tools for scratching coconut meat. “We have some fabulous fish traps from Nordthailand, beautiful wooden grinding and pestling and baskets for steaming things,” she says.

The museum’s collection reflects the region’s colonial history with richer stocks from areas in which the British were present. Alexandra is enthusiastic about making these collections accessible and ensuring that the records are detailed and available online. “More people look at our collections in this way in this way,” she notes.

It is also actively involved in curating exhibitions and collecting new objects, including contemporary art and diplomatic gifts. “If you collect them, you may not be the most beautiful things, but actually document a pretty interesting moment and interaction.”

Food as a connection

For Alexandra, food and objects are both memory and connection vessels. “Objects do not have to be controversial – they can be a way to build bridges,” she refers to the upcoming exhibition of the museum, in which 170 years of diplomatic relationships between Thailand and Great Britain are celebrated.

When the curry is served, the kitchen is full of warmth and laughter. The tomatoes are added shortly before the end to keep their crunch, and the final dish is declared “extraordinary” by their guest. Alexandra’s recipe is more than a meal – it is a story of movement, adaptation and shared heritage.