Thai Green Curry with Chicken & Eggplant

Thai Green Curry with Chicken & Eggplant - (Gaeng khiao wan gai)

By Foodguy on May 23rd, 2008

Thai Green Curry with Chicken & Eggplant - (Gaeng khiao wan gai)
This is another dish I discovered while in Thailand. Translation: Gaeng = spicy soup, khiao = green, wan = sweet, gai = chicken. The one ingredient that may be new to you is the Thai mini eggplant, also known as Kermit eggplant. It’s about the size of a golfball and is an essential ingredient in a lot of Thai curry dishes. Its quartered, added to the curry and absorbs the flavor of the sauce as it softens during cooking. This curry dish goes great served over a mound of Jasmine rice.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. Chicken
3 tablespoons green curry paste
1 13.5 oz. can coconut milk
5 small fresh Thai eggplants, quartered
2-3 fresh red chilies, deseeded and chopped
2 kaffir lime leaves, torn
1/4 cup sweet basil leaf
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons palm sugar, grated
1 tablespoon cooking oil

DIRECTIONS:

Slice the chicken into thin 1/2″ pieces.

In a Wok, sauté the green curry paste in oil over medium heat until fragrant (about 2 minutes), reduce the heat, add the coconut milk, and stir until a film of green oil surfaces.

Add the chicken, eggplant, kaffir lime leaves and season with palm sugar and fish sauce. Cook until the chicken and eggplants are done, then sprinkle with sweet basil leaves and dry red chilies.

Serve over a bed of steamed jasmine rice.