I’ve been happily spending my Amazon birthday money on Kindle e-books! It’s a wonderful way to indulge my love of cookbooks without the environmental costs associated with paper copies. It also lets me discover small treasures which never make it into a hard copy, like this little gem…
Costing just a few dollars and containing less than two dozen recipes, it was written by a Thai chef who runs cooking classes in her home town. The instructions are simple to follow and fairly basic, but having said that, Duen’s recipe produced the tastiest Thai Green Chicken Curry that I’ve ever made.
I went in to Thai Town (Campbell Street, Sydney) to pick up some pea eggplants – the recipe specifies the round Thai eggplants (about the size of a squash ball), but I prefer using the slightly bitter pea ones in my curries…
Instead of making my own curry paste, I used a Maesri one that I had in the pantry (the book provides instructions for making red and green curry pastes from scratch)…
The secret ingredient? A tiny bit of chicken stock cube. I rarely ever use them, but I always keep some MSG-free Maggi ones in the pantry. Here’s my take on Duen’s recipe – I greatly reduced the amount of fish sauce used as the one I have is very salty…
- 700g free range chicken thigh fillets, washed and sliced
- ½ tin Maesri green curry paste
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 400ml coconut milk
- handful basil leaves
- handful of Thai pea eggplants (or larger eggplants, cut into pieces)
- 2 large kaffir lime leaves
- 1 long red chilli (for garnish)
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or brown sugar)
- ¼ – ½ chicken stock cube
1. Heat the coconut oil up in a pan (I used my Emile Henry clay wok) and fry the curry paste until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add 250ml of the coconut milk and the kaffir lime leaves.
2. Add the chicken and stir until half cooked, then add the fish sauce, palm sugar and stock cube. Stir until combined.
3. Add the remaining coconut milk and bring to a boil, then add the eggplants and simmer until cooked but not mushy. Check the chicken is cooked through and adjust the seasoning with more fish sauce or palm sugar if required.
4. Stir the torn basil through the hot curry and garnish with slivers of red chill. Serve with steamed rice.
This was every bit as delicious as it looks in the photo! It was amazing what a difference the addition of the palm sugar, fish sauce and a little bit of a stock cube made.
Definitely a recipe we’ll be making again, and there’s a couple more in Duen’s book that have caught my eye as well. Great value for $3!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Looks delicious. Can you tell me where you buy your tins of curry paste from?
Dale, they’re available from most Asian grocery stores – I buy mine from the ones in Flemington (Sydney). I also use the Mae Ploy pastes which are excellent.
It just goes to show that you don’t need the big glossy, expensive cookbooks. I am learning to bake at the moment(l will be 50 in a few weeks so l’m a very late starter) and have loved looking through the CWA cookbook. This is an old copy and probably very unfashionable but the recipes look good. Hope you and your family enjoy every recipe in your little gem of a book:)
Thanks Jo! Happy birthday to you too! Big year for us all! :)
* very loud laughter at how matters change* . . . This looks like a very moreish Thai Green Curry I simply have to try . . . but for some half a century Campbell Street was Estonian [kind’of my heritage!] . . . shows how long I have lived ‘away’ :) !! Oh, we still claim 141 !!!!
Ah yes, the Estonian Club! It’s full of Thai eateries and grocery stores now, Eha! :)
Yum, on my list to make when I return to Brisbane. It is just not possible to get the right ingredients here.
Deb, it’s very easy to make! I’ve made it twice now! :)
Ah, I wondered if I would see the Maesri pastes when I scrolled down! They are OUTSTANDING!
Lizzy, it’s very good and the can is an extremely convenient size. I do think I prefer the Mae Ploy pastes just a little more, but I never get through the whole container!
I keep the pastes from opened tins in my freezer in a little glass jar with lid. So easy to just scoop out what you need for a recipe and they stay very fresh. PS- Love your blog/website :) & I hope to some day snag of your sourdough starter!!
Thanks for reading! I’ll probably do another SD giveaway in December. :)
Looks yummy indeed Celia! We like those little pea eggplants too, I tried to grow some but sadly they didn’t work out :( Luckily our local market sells these and the other ones as well so I can still get my fix xo
Becca, they sell them at Flemington Markets too – I just haven’t been there in a while! :)
Those are the kind of cookbooks I love – ones written by unknowns, but who REALLY know how to cook!!
Many people don’t know that it takes more than a can of coconut milk and a dollop of curry paste to make a great curry. You nailed it. Of course.
PS Homer has a cold. I am trying to nurse him back to health :(
PPS That’s the same curry paste I use too :)
Thanks Nagi! I loved this little cookbook – it had most of the recipes I order! :)
Thai Green Chicken Curry is my comfort food. I use the Maesri pastes as well, and love pea eggplants (any eggplant) as well. Yum.
P.S. Duen Na Korat’s The Original Thai Paleo Diet is on Kindle for free. Looks interesting with lots of veges subbing for carbs.
Got it! Thanks ED! :)
I have never seen the pea eggplants before – wish we could get them here and what a fabulous little gem of a book – great first recipe you shared with us Celia.
Have a wonderful day.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, I love them – they’re a bit bitter which adds lovely depth to the dish. Hard to find here too! :)
I own the Mae Ploy pastes, and make Thai-iinspired dishes using it and the exemplary coconut milk, but I will never be able to get my hands on fresh kaffir leaves! So sad!
I buy my kaffir leaves online and then freeze them. They are still very good. Hope that helps.. c
Thanks!!!
Mimi, I really like the Mae Ploy ones too, but I never seem to get through even their smallest container! The Maesri ones are a good pantry item! :)
Well. That’s my dinner sorted! Thank you.. c
Cool! Hope you enjoy it! :)
The house is Filled with the magic of green curry.. c
Looking forward to trying this delicious recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Most welcome, I’ve made it twice now and it’s been a hit each time!
Hmm, I will have to look for that brand of curry paste … so easy and delicious to pull together after a long day. :)
Judy, with rice, it’s the right amount to feed all four of us. As you say, dead easy to make too! :)
I love “Thai Green or Red curry” anything Ms Celia. Boil an old shoe in Thai red or green curry and I will attempt to eat it. Have you tried Massell stock powder? I adore it. It is fabulous, it’s Aussie and it’s absolutely delicious. I wouldn’t be without it in my pantry ever and I have no affiliation with Massell at all other than to say that we vegans have been hoarding the stuff for years ;). Excellent bargain basement sale book Ms Celia and wonderful share :)
Fran, I have that on my shelf! I’ll try using that next time. As ED pointed out above, Duen’s paleo cookbook is currently free on Amazon – just had a look and this recipe is in it.. :)
We love Thai green chicken curry and it’s often day two of a roast chicken. I am so eager to try your recipe.
Maureen, I’ve never made it with roast chicken! Thanks for the tip!
Looks delicious! I love amazon gift cards too, ebooks are the best!
Gretchen, they really are! I love getting them! :)
Some good little tips there, Celia. I’ll try it with the chicken stock cube as you’ve suggested. I just can’t acquire a taste for the bitter little eggplants though :-)
Chris, it really IS an acquired taste, but I’m hooked on them! They’re so expensive though! :)
Gorgeous – we have that paste here too and I like it as it has no nasties in it! My favourite curry cookbook is one that was written by the teacher of a class I took about a 100 years ago and she produced it herself. Again, it probably only has about 20 recipes, all her home favourites, very simple and they always turn out fantastically. I must remember to rescue it from my Spanish cookery book colleciton next time we’re there!
Tanya, it sounds like the perfect cookbook. I’m be happy to get just TWO good recipes from every cookbook I own! :)
You’ve wasted no time using that Amazon gift certificate. Thai food has never really caught on over here but I need to give some of those recipes a try. I imagine the speciality section of our grocery store would have the ingredients. You always have such wonderful & interesting meals at your house.
Di, you might really enjoy this little book then – I find lots of higher priced Thai cookbooks call for a stack of fancy ingredients and techniques – this one is very straightforward!
I have relented and bought a kindle. This is just for travelling and secret bed reading at 3 AM when I can;t sleep and don;t want to wake Mr T.
The curry looks very tasty indeed.
Emille Henry clay wok? Now that does sound interesting. Love a Thai green curry – I make mine very herb heavy al la Jamie.
This recipe looks interesting. I will try this some day.
Great tip Celia – on getting cookbooks via kindle ebooks. I’m going to investigate this right now …
I love Green Curry. Its time I made some. I like Maesri too because of it’s convenient size. It is a little more “cooked” in flavour I suppose due to its canning, but still great. looks perfect Celia