Thai eggplant is green! Not your usual purple like most people are familiar with. They are known as “round eggplants” or “ma keua praw” in Thailand. The texture is denser and crunchier with a slight bitter taste, so the preparations will be different. You can stir fry them, or eat them raw with a spicy dip. Thai eggplants are the most popular ingredient in red and green curries. Slice them thinly and they’ll absorb the flavor and aroma of the other ingredients, in addition to becoming tender more quickly.
Photo: Thai Table
Ingredients
Serves 2-3
1 lb chicken (cooking with the bones will add more flavor)
1 thinly sliced chili pepper
1 cup coconut milk
1-2 Tbsp *green curry paste
6-7 Thai eggplants (quartered)
2 Tbsp fish sauce
4-5 kaffir lime leaves (ok to omit if you can’t find it!)
1/4 cup pea eggplant (ok to omit if you can’t find it!)
1 Tbsp sugar
3 sprigs Thai basil
1 cup water
Note*
Some brands of green curry paste can be very spicy hot. Start with one tablespoon first before increasing the amount.
Green curry should not be sweet like dessert but should have a hint of sweet.
If you curry paste is old or not quite green, add a few ground fresh pepper leaves in. If fresh pepper leaves are not available, use mild leafy green instead. This will give you beautiful fresh green without the heat like chili pepper would.
Into a pot over medium heat, pour half of the coconut milk and green curry paste. If your coconut milk separates and has cream on the top, use the cream. Mix the paste with coconut milk well. Keep stirring to prevent bottom from sticking and burning. You may need to lower the heat if it splatters too much. Keep stirring until you see greenish oil form. The coconut oil is pulling the color and fragrance out from the spices. This green oil will be floating beautifully in your curry, like in picture 5 (click it to make it bigger).
Add chicken into the curry mixture. Stir to coat the chicken for a couple minutes, until it is partially cooked.
Add the eggplants, but hold off on the pea eggplants. Stir more.
Add the rest of coconut milk and 1 cup of water. Let it simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked.
Add the pea eggplants. Add the seasonings, fish sauce and sugar. Taste for the balance flavors, salty with a hint of sweet. Add the slivers of red chili pepper and kaffir lime leaves.
Let it boil one more time. When you are ready to serve, add the Thai basil. Stir to mix the basil in and immediately turn off the heat to keep the basil green. Quickly pour onto serving bowl.
Serve with rice or thin rice noodles.
Recipe from Natty Netsuwan | Thai Table
