Kang Khiew Wan Gai (Green Chicken Curry)

Ingredients
Vegetable oil     - 2    tbsp.   
Coconut cream    - 1    cup
Green curry paste, (Gaeng Kiew Wan paste)     - 2    tbsp.
Chicken thigh meat, sliced (boneless, skinless) -    600    grams
Coconut Milk     - 4    cups
Kaffir lime leaves     - 4-5    leaves
Palm sugar     - 2    tsp.
Fish sauce     - 2-3    tbsp.
Thai eggplants, quartered     - 5   
Large red Thai chili peppers (prik chee fah), sliced diagonally     - 2   
Sweet basil leaves     - 1/2    cup
(4 servings)



Directions
1. Place a thick-bottomed pot over a medium heat and heat up the oil. Add the green curry paste and fry – the addition of a little bit of coconut cream will ensure it stays smooth and spreadable. Cook over medium-low heat until fragrant and the color turns intensely green (about one minute).

2. Increase the heat and add all the sliced chicken pieces. Stir to cover each piece of the chicken with the curry paste and to seal in the juices. The chicken does not have to be cooked through.

3. Add the rest of the coconut cream and coconut milk. Stir to mix. While waiting for it to come to the boil, tear the kaffir lime leaves over the curry. After it comes to the boil, add the palm sugar. Taste the curry; it should taste slightly sweet, but not overpoweringly so. Balance the flavor with fish sauce and taste again. Now, the curry should taste well-rounded: salty with an underlying sweetness.

4. Add the eggplants and allow to cook for about two minutes. Check the seasoning again before adding the chili peppers. Stir to mix.

5. Before service, turn the boiling curry off and toss in the sweet basil leaves. Stir to infuse the curry with their fragrance. By this time, the flavor profile should be multi-layered: salty, creamy sweet, pungent from the curry paste, and finally a different kind of sweetness from the sweet basil leaves.

6. Spoon into a bowl and serve with steamed rice.

Tips
Green curry paste is available in most Asian grocery stores and comes vacuum packed or in cans. The amount of chili paste used has to be adjusted depending on the saltiness of the particular paste. Consequently all your seasonings have to be adjusted accordingly. Taste your curry before seasoning with fish sauce or sugar.