Thai Green Curry = Success!

My mom and I made a delicious pot of green curry last night. All from scratch. I was quite proud, as well as in shock, when I tasted it for the time - it was gooooood! I'd definitely recommend this recipe, which I got from one of my cooking classes at Culinary Communion (RIP!). The recipe for the green curry paste makes 4 batches, and each batch produces enough to feed probably 4 people. We edited the protein to make Green Curry Chicken with Eggplant instead of duck. And we also made a side dish of Green Papaya Salad with Prawns. Yummo.

This is "howie do it"....

Green Curry Paste (Makes 2 1/2 Cups)

5-10 green thai chilies
1/2 C cilantro, minced
1/4 C lemongrass, minced
5 thin slices galangal, or ginger root
1 tsp shrimp paste (I omitted this since I didn't have any)
10 green jalapenos
8 cloves of garlic
1/4 C shallots, minced
1 tsp cumin

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth, adding a little bit of water if the blender needs help. You can disperse into 1/2 C servings and freeze until you need them.


Green Curry -----Protien---- with Eggplant

1 lb duck breast, skin on - or 1 lb chicken - or 1 lb tofu, or whatevers
1/2 C green curry paste (made from above :))
2 C Thai eggplant, or regular kind, cut into large chunks or dice
1/2 C coconut cream (I omitted this too, to be more "healthy")
1/4 C Thai basil, chiffonade (cut into thin ribbons)
2 C coconut milk
1/4 C + 3 T fish sauce (we like the brand with three crabs on it)
3 T palm sugar (you can use brown sugar if you don't have this, but it's sweet.. haha)
4 kaffir lime leaves (or more, because they are sooo fragrant)
red jalapenos for garnish (or just use some cilantro or basil)

Prepare the protein: Rub the meat with the 3 T of fish sauce. Score the skin in several places, but not down to the meat. Place the protein skin side down, into very hot saute pan, or dutch oven with oil. Turn heat down to medium. Leave undisturbed for 10-15 minutes, or until deeply browned and most of the fat rendered away. Flip. Cook two more minutes and remove from pan. Thinly slice the duck on an angle. Reserve.

- What I did was brown 7 chicken drumsticks in the pan. When they were nice and crispy outside (with probably 4-5 minutes fro being cooked all the way through, I removed them. Then added the green curry paste to the dutch oven w/ the left over oil inside, so the paste could cook for a little bit. Then I added the coconut milk (2 cans), and heated until it boiled.

Once it boiled, I added the sugar and fish sauce, and then added the eggplant and meat back into the pot. Mixed it all up and let it simmer for 7-10 minutes so the eggplants would soften and soak up the curry sauce, and the chicken would finish cooking. When everything looked almost done, I added the lime leaves and basil. Serve it with brown rice. Pine nuts go well with the rice - helps add texture.

Delicious! I'd add pictures right now but blogspot is being funky. Until next time! :)