Thai Green Curry Chicken with Eggplant

I love Thai food incorporating curry. Every time I step out after a meal at Thai Spice restaurant near Vassar College, I already miss the food. Recently I found a shortcut in making my own curry – using Thai curry pastes purchased online. Not only is it easy to make but also is tasty enough to sustain me through my next visit to Thai Spice. The curry paste order came in a pack of six cans and three flavors: red, green, and yellow.

6 Can (4oz. Each) of Thai Green Red Yellow Curry Pastes Set

A recipe along with cooking directions is posted on each can.  I particularly like the one for green curry. Below is the posted recipe with a couple of minor alternations from myself.  Although this recipe features chicken and eggplants, it could also be prepared with beef, pork or other vegetables. I substituted Chinese eggplants for the Thai eggplants called by the recipe, but the eggplants commonly seen in the American supermarkets should work as well. For consistent and tender chicken, use a meat tenderizer mallet to flatten the chicken breasts during preparation.

Prep Time:   5 minutes               Ingredients: 10 minutes

Yield: 6 serving

Ingredients:

• 1 can Thai Green Curry Paste (or reduce the amount for lower heat)
• 2 chicken breasts, about 500 grams (17.5 oz)
• 400 ml (13.6 fl. oz) coconut milk
• 200 grams (7 oz) eggplants, sliced
• basil leaves
• Chili pepper (Optional)

Directions:

• Flatten and tenderize the chicken breasts using a mallet and then cut into thin slices.
• Place Green Curry paste and coconut milk into a pan. Blend well and bring to a boil.
• Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes.
• Add eggplants and keep stirring until eggplants are softened.
• Sprinkle basil leaves, as well as additional chili pepper if desired.
• Serve with Jasmine rice.

Green Curry tends to be one of the milder curries of Thai cuisine, but be warned — this particular green curry product is considerably hot  for my taste buds (coming from a woman who enjoys wasabi as if it is green tea ice cream! :-). The original recipe suggested to sprinkle fresh chili pepper along with the basil leaves, but chili pepper is already listed as the first ingredient of the paste. Unless you enjoy extreme heat,  it would be wise to forgo any additional chili pepper, and perhaps even wiser to reduce the amount of curry paste if you cannot tolerate high heat.