Thai Red Curry with Chicken

I found this recipe for red curry and really like that there's also a recipe on how to make your own curry paste. I never thought that making curry paste could be this simple. It's just a matter of gathering all the ingredients and pureeing everything into a paste. The most time consuming part of making this is the paste itself. Preparing the curry is quite easy. I didn't exactly use the same ingredients as called for in this recipe. I substituted the duck meat for chicken and added carrots, russet potatoes, thai tomatoes, and was going to add taro as well but the pot was getting to be too full, so I left it out. I also used only 1 can of coconut milk and added water to cover the ingredients. I had to also add some salt and fish sauce for seasoning/taste. This turned out quite alright. Although, next time I would probably add more paste, more veggies, and more salt/fish sauce. I tend to like my food well seasoned especially if I am going to eat it with rice/bread.


http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2008/11/thai-red-curry-paste.html
Thai Red Curry Paste
Adapted from "Step-By-Step Thai Cookery" by Hilaire Walden.

For about 1/2 cup, you'll need:
2 stalks lemongrass, thinly sliced
1 2-inch knob ginger (or galangal if you want to be authentic)
Peel from 1 lime (kaffir if you want to be authentic)
1 tblsp Mam Ruoc (Vietnamese Fermented Shrimp Paste)
1 shallot
4 garlic cloves
2 large chilies or 6 small chilies, or however much heat you can stand, de-seed if necessary
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper

Add all ingredients to a food processor and puree until finely minced, scrapping the sides down if necessary. Freeze any leftover paste.



Thai Red Curry with Roast Duck, Bamboo Shoots, Eggplant, and Pumpkin

For a very large pot, you'll need:
Thai Red Curry Paste
About 1 cup pumpkin, diced
About 1 cup bamboo shoots, sliced
About 6 Thai eggplants, cut into segments and soak in salty water to draw out mucous
2 13-oz cans Coconut Milk
1/2 roast duck
As many sprigs of Thai basil as you'd like, leaves removed
Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese Fish Sauce), to taste

Begin by making my recipe for Thai red curry paste, or use packaged paste. Set aside.

Dice the pumpkin into 1-inch chunks. If the pumpkin rind is too hard, pop it in the microwave for 5 to 10 minutes to soften.

Cut the Thai eggplant into quarters or eighths and let them soak in salty water to draw out the black mucous. You may substitute with one Japanese eggplant or a small Italian eggplant.

Pull the roast duck from the bones, skin also if you wish. Set aside.

Do not shake your can of coconut milk. See the coconut cream in the photo below? Spoon that out, reserving the liquid in the can. I like my curries very creamy, so do this with both cans. If you want to cut down on coconut milk, then use just one can and sub water for the rest.

Dry fry the coconut cream with as much curry paste as you'd like. I like a lot, so I used my whole batch. You can start with 1 or 2 tblsp of paste and see how you like it. It's easy enough to add more, but you can't remove it once everything is incorporated.

Keep stirring until you get a nice, smooth paste.

Then add in the rest of the coconut milk liquid. Then fill each can halfway with water, swish it around get the last of the coconut milk and pour that into the pot. If you're only using one can of coconut milk, then fill up the can completely so that there's enough liquid for the curry. Drain the eggplants and add them, along with the pumpkin and bamboo shoots. Make sure there's enough water to cover all the ingredients. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer for at least half an hour.

Check to see if the curry has thickened to your liking and the vegetables have softened. Add a few squirts of fish sauce if necessary. Add the roast duck and Thai basil leaves and let simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Serve with french bread or with rice.