Thai Red Curry (My Variation)

Southeast Asia has been referred to as Indo-China in the past. One of the reasons is geography and the other is cultural. The influences of both India and China are evident, especially in the cooking. There is an Indian recipe I enjoy, Kozhi Moilee, from the previously mentioned book: Indian in 6 by Monisha Bharadwaj. It is a curry chicken recipe that employs coconut milk--very tasty! Thai red curry is similar, with exceptions, of course. The key difference between the two is the use of Thai red curry paste, and the use of ginger-garlic paste in the Indian recipe. There are ingredients that are particular to S.E. Asia, like galangal (which is ginger-like), fish sauce, kaffir lime leaves, Thai eggplants and Thai basil. I've combined the two styles, employed substitutions where necessary, and come up with a tasty version that is probably more Thai than Indian.

For the record, I did try to find to obtain all the original ingredients. I tried raising Thai Eggplant on my balcony, however, a spider mite infestation and the weather have frustrated my efforts thus far. It looks like I might get one eggplant before the first frost. I used chinese eggplants instead. I found galangal at my favorite chinese supermarket--The Great Wall--but it was in powdered form, so I stuck to Ms. Bharadwaj's ginger-garlic paste. I have been unable to obtain Holy Basil, as thai basil is referred to, but the growing season was much kinder to the sweet basil on my balcony, which is an acceptable substitute in thai cooking.

What I used:

1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast (cut into chunks)

3 cloves of garlic (crushed) and a 4" piece of ginger (grated) to make "ginger-garlic paste"

a can of coconut milk (12 oz., I believe)

Roland's Red Curry Paste (found it at the supermarket downstairs!)

a handful of basil leaves (chopped)

Fish sauce (about 1 1/2 tbsp.'s)

2 tbsp. cooking oil

2 diced shallots (an onion can be used)

2 chinese eggplants (cut into chunks)

1 cup of water

salt (for sprinkling on the eggplants to reduce bitterness)

a can of tomatos however you like 'em--whole, crushed, diced, etc... (from the Indian recipe also)

chillie peppers--if you like them 'cause you'll get a bit of spice from the ginger

I added some ground black pepper from my peppermill--always looking for an excuse to use it!

The process is as follows, add oil to a large, deep, skillet, which I am blessed to have, then add garlic-ginger paste, diced shallots and sautee briefly. When they become fragrant, add tomatoes, eggplant (previously salted and rinsed to reduce bitterness), chillies, red curry paste and fish sauce and sautee further. Once all is coated, add water. We are pausing between steps to allow the ingredients to combine and become infused with one another. When the water begins to bubble, add the coconut milk. Once these are combined and bubbling, you are prepared to add the chicken. Naturally, stir it about, see that it is all mixing and cooking. Add a little black pepper, if you like as it cooks. Lower heat to a moderate flame and stir occassionally. The chicken should cook fairly quickly, say 15 minutes or so. Add the basil at the end, like once it is cooked, and mix it in. Let it cool for a few minutes while the basil too infuses and serve over jasmine rice (You don't need a recipe for that, just buy the rice and follow the directions.).

Note: Fish sauce smells funny. It is made mostly of anchovies. Usually, I would never eat such a thing, but it really works in this recipe, as well as making up for not needing to add salt. Have faith and get past the smell and thoughts.