Eggplant Curry

Click to Enlarge	Eggplant Curry Cambodia
Click to Enlarge	Serves Effort: Sched: DoAhead:	2 main *** 1 hr Part		Eggplant curry is a popular dish all over Southeast Asia and this recipe from Cambodia is a flavorful example. To make this dish vegetarian you could try substituting a few cubes of fermented tofu for the shrimp paste. Serve with plenty of Jasmine rice.

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Kroeung Paste (1)
Eggplants (2)
Shallots
Garlic
Chilis dry hot
Thai Basil Leaves
Oil
Shrimp Paste (3)
Palm Sugar (4)
Coconut milk
Stock
Kaffir Lime leaf (5)
Salt
Pepper black
Lime Juice

Prep

Make your Kroeung Paste if you haven't already.
Cut EGGPLANTS into bite size pieces and put in a bowl of water acidulated with citric acid or lemon juice.
Peel SHALLOTS and slice thin, crush GARLIC and chop fine, mix and add the DRIED CHILIS.
Pull BASIL LEAVES from stems and put in a bowl of cold water.
Squeeze LIME JUICE.

Run

Heat OIL and stir in Shallot mix. Fry stirring until you see the first trace of color, then stir in Kroeung Paste, Shrimp Paste and Palm Sugar (if used). Fry stirring until it starts to darken just a bit.
Stir in the Coconut Milk, Stock, Kaffir Leaves and Eggplants. Season with Salt and Pepper and bring to a Simmer for about 20 minutes with the lid ajar.
Caution: coconut milk will foam up and overflow the pan just like cow milk does - simmer gently, leave the lid ajar and watch it.
Turn off heat. Drain Basil Leaves and stir them in, then stir in the Lime Juice.
Serve hot with plenty of Jasmine rice.

NOTES:

Kroeung Paste is a popular Cambodian curry paste made of all fresh ingredients. My Recipe makes a lot more than you need for this recipe but it can be used in other recipes or frozen for future use.
Eggplants: Small oval Indian eggplants are best for this, but if you don't have them use long narrow Asian or Italian. Thai eggplants could also be used.
Shrimp Paste: can be either block form (which you wrap in aluminum foil and roast over a burner or dry fry for a few minutes) or Vietnamese paste from a jar. If necessary you can use the more refined Thai shrimp paste.
Palm Sugar: Asians tend to sweeten just about everything. I generally omit the sugar.
Kaffir Lime Leaves: come two to a stem. If you don't have them use the grated zest (green only) of one regular lime. Not the same but at least it's something.
U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch