Thai Green Chicken Curry

Serves 4 Ingredients: 500g chicken breast (4 medium size breasts) 400ml coconut milk 2 level tablespoons green curry paste 3 cloves garlic 2 sticks lemongrass 5 Thai apple eggplant (aubergine) 100g Thai pea eggplant (aubergine) 8 Kaffir lime leaves 1 handful of fresh coriander 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon palm sugar 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 red or green finger chilli, chopped for garnish 10 Thai sweet basil leaves for garnish Preparation: Cut chicken into bite size pieces, either strips or chunks. Peel and lightly pound the garlic with a pestle and mortar. Top and tail the lemongrass, remove the outer leaf and chop fairly finely, about 2mm thick. Remove the stalk from the eggplants and cut each apple into 6 pieces. Tear the lime leaves into pieces and roughly chop the coriander. Cooking: Heat oil in a wok until very hot and stir fry the chicken for about 4 minutes until brown. Add the green paste and stir fry until it is aromatic. About 20 seconds will be fine. Add the thick white cream from the tin of coconut milk. Set aside the water at the bottom of the tin for later. Add the pea eggplants now as they take longer to cook. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until there is green oil floating on the surface (about 5 minutes). Add the apple eggplant, garlic, lemongrass, lime leaves, palm sugar and fish sauce. Simmer until the eggplant is cooked (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. If the curry is too thick, add a little of the coconut water reserved from earlier. Add the coriander and cook for 1 minute. Let the curry sit off the heat for 4 minutes. Serve in large serving bowl and garnish with the chilli and sweet basil leaves. Serve with plenty of Thai Jasmine rice. As a variation: Thai eggplant can be a little expensive. This recipe works very well with green peppers (add at apple eggplant stage), green beans (add at pea eggplant stage) or a combination of the two.

Thai Green Chicken Curry

Serves 4 Ingredients: 500g chicken breast (4 medium size breasts) 400ml coconut milk 2 level tablespoons green curry paste 3 cloves garlic 2 sticks lemongrass 5 Thai apple eggplant (aubergine) 100g Thai pea eggplant (aubergine) 8 Kaffir lime leaves 1 handful of fresh coriander 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 tablespoon palm sugar 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 red or green finger chilli, chopped for garnish 10 Thai sweet basil leaves for garnish Preparation: Cut chicken into bite size pieces, either strips or chunks. Peel and lightly pound the garlic with a pestle and mortar. Top and tail the lemongrass, remove the outer leaf and chop fairly finely, about 2mm thick. Remove the stalk from the eggplants and cut each apple into 6 pieces. Tear the lime leaves into pieces and roughly chop the coriander. Cooking: Heat oil in a wok until very hot and stir fry the chicken for about 4 minutes until brown. Add the green paste and stir fry until it is aromatic. About 20 seconds will be fine. Add the thick white cream from the tin of coconut milk. Set aside the water at the bottom of the tin for later. Add the pea eggplants now as they take longer to cook. Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until there is green oil floating on the surface (about 5 minutes). Add the apple eggplant, garlic, lemongrass, lime leaves, palm sugar and fish sauce. Simmer until the eggplant is cooked (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. If the curry is too thick, add a little of the coconut water reserved from earlier. Add the coriander and cook for 1 minute. Let the curry sit off the heat for 4 minutes. Serve in large serving bowl and garnish with the chilli and sweet basil leaves. Serve with plenty of Thai Jasmine rice. As a variation: Thai eggplant can be a little expensive. This recipe works very well with green peppers (add at apple eggplant stage), green beans (add at pea eggplant stage) or a combination of the two.