Green Curry of chicken and eggplant
Making a green curry from scratch at home can take some effort, but the results are undoubtedly better than your typical take-out version. The nice thing is, much of the work goes into making the green curry paste and once you have made the paste, putting the dish together is quite simple. In this example, I reduce the curry until it is thick, rich and really clings to the meat and vegetables. Feel free to reduce the curry a bit less if you would like the curry to be a bit looser and more soupy.
Be warned, this dish is SPICY. It is supposed to be. You could substitute peppers that are less spicy but then you are losing out on a lot of the appeal of the dish. If you are sensitive to spicy food, eat the curry with a lot of rice ….or make something else.
If you can find it, purchase coconut cream for this recipe. Coconut cream has a lower water content than coconut milk which will yield a curry that is richer. Aroy-D is a good brand that sells coconut cream in cans and cartons. Be mindful that “coconut cream” is NOT the same thing as “cream of coconut”. “Cream of coconut” has a ton of sugar and additives, and is usually used for pina coladas.
You may see the cooking method and think to yourself that the chicken breast is being WAY overcooked. Don’t worry. Yes, the chicken breast is very well done but to be honest, I think it eats better that way. If the curry was thin and watery, yes, the meat would be a bit unappealing cooked to this doneness. That being said, the thick coconut curry and soft cooked eggplant compliment the firmer texture of the chicken. Give it a try. You could also use chicken thighs which will remain a bit more moist through the cooking process.
Try to use a wider pot to cook this curry so that the curry reduces at a good pace. I use a 6 quart enameled cast iron pot that is about 10 inches in diameter.
Serve With:
- Steamed Jasmine Rice
Necessary for this recipe:
Green Curry with Chicken and Eggplant
Ingredients
- 1x batch Green Curry paste (see link above for recipe) 140 grams
- 300 grams Coconut Cream (NOT CREAM OF COCONUT) about 1.5 cups
- 400 grams Chicken breast, skin on about 2 medium breasts
- 1 pinch salt
- 250 grams Japanese Eggplant about 2 medium eggplants
- 17 grams fish sauce 1 Tbsp.
- 4 grams palm sugar (or white sugar) 1 tsp.
- 5 grams fresh or frozen makrut lime leaves about 20 leaves
- 200 grams chicken stock (or water) about 1 cup
- 60 grams green serrano chilies about 6 chilies
- 10 grams red or green thai bird chilies about 6 chilies
- 30 grams fresh Thai basil leaves about 2 cups, loosely packed
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts in half lengthwise and then cut into bite sized chunks. Season very lightly with a pinch of salt.
- Cut serrano peppers on the bias into large chunks. Pound the bird chilies with the heel of knife to bruise the peppers and slightly break open.
- In a wide pot, bring coconut cream to a simmer and add the curry paste.
- Stir the paste into the coconut cream and simmer for 30 seconds over medium high heat.
- Add chicken breast to pot.
- Simmer chicken for 2 minutes over medium high heat, stirring to prevent bottom of pot from scorching.
- Add the eggplant and continue to simmer over medium high heat for another 2 minutes. Continue stirring.
- Roughly tear the makrut lime leaves into the pot and simmer 1 more minutes
- Add fish sauce and palm sugar to the pot. Simmer 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken stock to the pot, and simmer over high or medium-high heat for 10 minutes. Curry should start to thicken back up. Keep stirring to prevent scorching.
- Add peppers to the pot and continue to cook the curry until it has become thick and coats everything nicely, about 2 more minutes.
- Add Thai basil and give a quick stir. Curry is now ready. Adjust seasoning with more fish sauce if necessary.
- Serve curry with warm rice
