The family has fallen in love with this curry….I am even getting my daughter to eat eggplant. First time round she didn’t realise there was even eggplant in the meal.
Ingredients
4 shallots (about 60-80g), roughly chopped
4 medium cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
5cm length fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tsp ground coriander seed
1 tsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ground cumin seed
3 tbsp vegetable oil
6-8 chicken thighs, cut into large cubes
3 medium kaffir lime leaves (doubles)
3cm length of galangal chopped into quarters
1-2 stalk of lemongrass (depending on size), white part only, smashed with a blunt object
1-2 green bird chillies, split (optional)
1 can coconut milk (do not use lite)
1 tbsp palm sugar (you can substitute regular sugar)
250-300g small eggplants, peeled then cut into cubes (or 1 large one if the small ones not available)
200-300g cauliflower florets
1 pack enoki or oyster mushrooms
2 tbsp fish sauce (to taste)
1/2 cup fresh pouring cream (heavy)
Instructions
Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, coriander, and cumin to a food processor and process until you have a relatively smooth paste that’s free of any chunks.
Heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil, and then add the chicken and brown. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and repeat if necessary to brown the rest of the chicken.
Add a bit more oil, then add the spice paste to the hot oil, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Once the spice paste is very fragrant (but not browned), add the lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass and chillies and continue frying until you can smell the lime leaves.
Add the coconut milk and palm sugar, and then return the meat to the pot. Cover loosely with a lid and gently simmer over medium-low heat until the chicken is tender (about 1 hour).
Add the mushrooms, eggplant and cauliflower. Cook until the eggplant is tender and the curry has slightly thickened.
Add the fish sauce to taste.
Serving
If you have made this in advance, let the aromatics sit in the pot until ready to serve adding the cream once reheated.
Remove the lime leaves, galangal, lemongrass, and chillies, and then add the cream. Serve with steamed jasmine rice.
