It’s time for a good old Thai curry! I was just revising the Thai recipes I’ve already posted and was amazed to discovered that I haven’t posted a Thai curry yet! Specially considering that I cook one at least every two weeks if not once a week. Thai curries are so a part of our weekly menu that I guess I didn’t consider making a post about them until today, when I realised that they are totally worth sharing; not only because their deliciousness but also because they can become a staple of any household menu : they’re easy and quick to put together, and you can use virtually any protein and vegetable available to turn an ordinary week-day supper in a special one, even cooking it for guests. All you need is to always have coconut milk, a good quality curry paste and Jasmine or Basmati rice in your pantry and let your imagination do the rest of the work!
Of course, you can always make your own curry paste from scratch if you have a good Asian market nearby where to get the right ingredients. This would make the preparation a little more time-consuming, but you can make big quantities in advance to store. However, in terms of practicality, I find that there are really good bought curry pastes that use no artificial additives and preservatives.
Today’s recipe is the basic method I always use to cook Thai curries, feel free to change the curry paste (red, green), the vegetables and the protein source. They can be easily turned into a vegan dish by replacing the fish sauce with soy sauce and the meat with tofu.
Thai curries entered my life almost ten years ago, when I was living in Australia for some months (such a good and dear memory to me!) and my Aussie housemate and good friend used to cook them regularly for supper. I had never tried a Thai curry before at that time, and it was “love at first bite” Besides, Thai restaurants and take away in Australia are sooo good that I also enjoyed a lot of South-East Asian food when eating out.
Back at home, I made sure to find the ingredients to keep cooking them, a little bit harder to find in Spain, but possible if you look eagerly. In Australia you can find everything in a regular supermarket. The UK is a good place to stock up if you have the chance and of course, it is possible to buy online as well!
Let’s cook now, I hope you like it as much as I do!
Thai Chicken and Aubergine Yellow Curry
- Servings: 2
- Time: 30 minutes
- Difficulty: easy
Ingredients
- a dash of olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 2 teaspoonfuls of yellow curry paste (for a medium hot curry, adjust according to your hotness tolerance)
- 200 g chicken breast, diced (switch to tofu for vegan option)
- 1 tin coconut milk
- 1/2 aubergine, diced
- Fish sauce to taste (replace by soy sauce for vegan option)
- 1 teaspoonful of lime zest
- 1/2 lime juice
- 2 serves of steamed Jasmine rice
Preparation
Heat the oil in a cooking pot, sauté the onion and garlic (add one bruised lemongrass stalk and 1 teaspoonful of grated ginger for extra flavouring) over medium heat until translucent.
Add the curry paste, mix and stir fry till fragrant. At this point, put in the chicken (or tofu) and stir to coat it with the curry paste and allow to brown for a few minutes.
Continue by pouring the coconut milk, add the aubergine and season with the fish sauce (or soy sauce), lime zest and lime juice.
Cover and simmer until the meat and veggies are cooked.
Serve (garnish with fresh cilantro if desired) with steamed Jasmine rice and enjoy!
Filed under: South-East Asian, Thai Tagged: aubergine, cheap and cheerful, chicken, clean eating, coconut milk, curry, curry paste, healthy food, quick and easy, spicy food, Thai food, vegan option, vegetarian option, whole food, yellow curry paste
