Green Curry with Fresh Chile, Chicken, Eggplant and Kaffir Lime
Try this Green Curry with Fresh Chile, Chicken, Eggplant and Kaffir Lime recipe
Try this Green Curry with Fresh Chile, Chicken, Eggplant and Kaffir Lime recipe
- cooking oil
- fish sauce
- chicken stock
- boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
- thai eggplant quartered, w/ stems removed (or, use other seasonal veg such as bell pepper)
- green curry paste
- coconut milk
- fresh kaffir lime leaves each leaf torn in two, with vein removed
- palm sugar
- fresh thai chile peppers green
- fresh kaffir lime peel chopped
- fresh thai basil
- Carbohydrate 4.816670625 g
- Cholesterol 1.19925 mg
- Fat 14.857025625 g
- Fiber 0.0424000006318092 g
- Protein 1.24157625 g
- Saturated Fat 2.5595751875 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Person(s) (65g)
- Sodium 173.9143125 mg
- Sugar 4.77427062436819 g
- Trans Fat 0.734529437499998 g
- Calories 155 calories
Step-by-step
- Keep your quartered eggplants and lime leaves in a bowl of water, as shown in photo below. This keeps it fresh.
- In a mortar and pestle, pound the fresh Thai chiles and kaffir lime peel until consistent.
- Add green curry paste and pound together.
- In a skillet or wok, heat the oil and fry the curry paste mixture.
- Stir-fry at medium heat for a minute or two.
- Slowly add coconut milk and bring to a boil.
- Stir it until you see a bit of oil.
- Add chicken and let it cook.
- Add soup stock, eggplant and kaffir lime leaves.
- Bring to a boil.
- Season with fish sauce and palm sugar.
- Let it boil for 6 minutes.
- Remove from heat, then garnish with fresh basil and a sliced red Thai chile pepper (or red bell pepper if you prefer).
- Serve with freshly-steamed Thai jasmine rice.
- Enjoy!
Boiling the coconut milk until it separates and releases its oil is the exact moment this recipe succeeds or fails. Rushing this step leaves raw coconut solids behind, yielding a thin sauce that tastes flat and medicinal rather than rich and fragrant. Commercial green curry pastes rely heavily on dried spices and preservatives, but pounding fresh Thai chiles and kaffir lime peel with the paste base releases volatile oils that completely alter the final aroma. Dried lime leaves lack the pungent citrus notes required to balance the heavy coconut fat, while fresh leaves supply an essential herbal bitterness. Quartered Thai eggplants oxidize rapidly when exposed to air, turning unappealingly brown within minutes if left sitting on the counter. Submerging them in cold water prevents enzymatic browning until the moment they hit the wok. When frying the paste, keep the heat at a steady medium so the aromatics caramelize without scorching the delicate shrimp paste solids often hidden inside the curry blend. Freezing this curry after the chicken and eggplant are fully cooked alters the texture significantly; the eggplant pieces turn spongy and waterlogged upon thawing because their cellular structure collapses during freezing. Reheating leftover curry requires gentle stovetop warming rather than high microwave power to prevent the coconut milk from breaking entirely into an oily slick. Jasmine rice absorbs the spicy broth best when served immediately while the volatile top notes from the fresh basil and sliced chiles remain potent.
