Chicken stew with a spicy twist

Serves 4 as part of a shared banquet

To make the spice paste, pound all the ingredients together in a mortar with a pestle to a fine paste, or process the ingredients with a blender, adding a little water, if necessary.

Place the spice paste, tomatoes, cinnamon, lime leaves and sea salt in a large heavy-based pot. Add 1 litre of water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer very gently for about 11⁄2 hours.

Add the chicken, return the sauce to the boil, then simmer for about 8 minutes until the sauce is reduced and the chicken is cooked. Add the palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind water, then adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Stir through the basil leaves to serve.

HOT TIP

• Candlenuts can be toxic if consumed raw, so make sure you roast them well before adding them to the spice paste.

GREEN CURRY OF PRAWNS

250ml coconut cream
3 tbsp vegetable oil
6 kaffir lime leaves
4 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp grated palm sugar
500ml coconut milk
350g peeled green (raw) king prawns
4 wild green chillies, lightly crushed
3 long red chillies, halved and deseeded
10 Thai pea eggplants
5 apple eggplants, quartered
12 sweet Thai basil leaves

Green curry paste

5 coriander seeds
5 cumin seeds
5 white peppercorns
6 wild green chillies, chopped
3 long green chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed, chopped
2 tbsp chopped galangal
10 red shallots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
3 coriander roots, scraped and chopped
1 tbsp chopped turmeric
finely grated zest of 1 kaffir lime
1 tsp Thai shrimp paste, wrapped in foil and roasted until fragrant

Serves 4 as part of a shared banquet

To make the curry paste, lightly roast the coriander and cumin seeds and peppercorns in a dry heavy-based pan, then grind to a powder in a coffee or spice grinder. Pound the chillies, lemongrass, galangal, shallots, garlic, coriander roots, turmeric, zest and shrimp paste in a mortar with a pestle.

Pass all the ground and pounded ingredients through a mincer twice, or use a blender to process until smooth, adding a little water or oil if necessary. You can also just keep pounding with the pestle to produce a fine paste. Set 130g of paste (about 1/2 cup) aside for the curry. (Any leftover paste will freeze until next time.)

To make the curry, place coconut cream and oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and bring to the boil, stirring continuously. When the coconut cream splits (the oil and solids separate), add 130g of curry paste. Crush the lime leaves in your hand, add them to the pan and fry for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is sizzling and aromatic (use your nose).

Add the fish sauce and cook for 1 minute. Add the palm sugar and coconut milk and bring to the boil. Add the prawns, chillies and eggplants and simmer gently for 4 minutes, or until the prawns are just cooked and the pea and apple eggplants are still a little crunchy. Stir in the basil just before serving.

HOT TIPS

• You can also purée the curry paste in a blender; just add enough water to make the blades turn.

• Try stir-frying with your curry paste. Just add the paste, palm sugar and fish sauce after stir-frying your meat or fish and you have an amazingly flavoured dish.

• To complete your banquet, serve plenty of steamed rice and a beautiful bowl of steamed greens.

 

SOMETHING TO DRINK

Gewurztraminer
From an iconic Eden Valley vineyard, the 2008 Pewsey Vale Gewürztraminer (about $25) shows aromas of lychee, rose petal and ginger and gentle spice notes. A slightly sweet fruit note pairs well with the green prawn curry.

 

Source: Good Weekend
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