Eggplant Green Curry Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of eggplant in green curry? ›

If you can't find Thai eggplant for this recipe, you can substitute other veggies, like zucchini, broccoli, red peppers or green beans. For the chicken, you could also substitute turkey, duck or pork. As long as you have the coconut milk and green curry paste, you're good to go.

A runny curry means you haven't cooked it long enough and/or you have used coconut milk with a low percentage of solids.

Make a slurry of cornflour and water, say a teaspoon of flour to a tablespoon of cold water, mix it well and drizzle it into the curry sauce, drizzle half in and stir to thicken and if not thick enough add more and so on.

Cook as desired. Eggplants can be grilled, steamed, braised, stir-fried, deep-fried and roasted. For a smoky flavour, turn whole eggplants over an open flame on the barbecue or stovetop until the skin is charred, then scoop out the flesh. Choose eggplants with smooth and shiny skin that is even across the surface.

If you like zucchini or yellow summer squash, you'll like eggplant since their flavors are very similar. Eggplant's spongey texture means it will absorb the flavors around it. Some varieties of eggplant, like Thai eggplant, are very firm and have a green, vegetal flavor.

Flour: The flour is used in this recipe as a thickening agent. If you prefer a Thai green sauce with a thin consistency or if you are making a gluten free version then leave this out.

Often, Thai curries are made using coconut milk as the main liquid, which results in a creamy consistency. You can use as much or as little coconut milk as you wish based on your preference for texture, spice, and flavor.

Coconut milk is a key ingredient in Thai cooking. It's used as the base in many dishes, like soups and curries. The brand of coconut milk you use can chance the consistency, texture and taste of your dish.

Green Curry Spices

Green curry is mostly about the intense fresh aromatics so there's not much dried spices in it. If you Dom't have white pepper, switch it with finely ground black pepper. Don't skip the tumeric – as well as adding flavour, it is the ingredient that gives the green curry paste a beautiful warm glow!

There are several ways to thicken curry sauces and avoid making them too runny or watery. One option is to add dairy such as Greek yogurt, heavy cream, or coconut cream . Another option is to add ground nuts like cashews or almonds to the sauce . A roux made with flour and butter is also an effective thickener.

Is canned coconut milk the same as coconut cream? ›

Coconut cream is the same thing as coconut milk—coconut meat blended with water—but it contains less water. While coconut milk is thin like cow's milk, coconut cream is thick like whipped cream. You can find this fat-rich cream floating on the top of any canned coconut milk, or you can buy it in a dedicated can.

Salt it.

Some say that it doesn't really pull out the bitterness, but instead just masks our perception of it. Regardless, sprinkling a good amount of salt over eggplant slices or cubes before they're cooked does draw out some of its moisture and lessens the bitterness.

Depending on variety and size, and how they are cut, eggplants take 15 to 25 minutes to fully cook. Undercook them and you'll be left with a bitter-tasting veggie that has the texture of a cotton ball, says Norton. "Most recipes can accurately predict how much time it will take for eggplants to fully cook.

Thai Eggplant

For curries and stir-fries, you can substitute with long aubergine or purple eggplant. Fish sauce savory and rich flavor is fantastic!

You can use Mediterranean-style (purple) aubergine instead of the green Thai ones in most dishes, as long as it's not one that uses them raw. You'll lose the authentic bitterness but the texture is similar.

Whatever the size, avoid bruised ones. If Indian eggplants are unavailable, substitute small Japanese or Italian eggplants. Sorry, regular globe eggplants are too big.

Green eggplants widely vary in appearance in Southeast Asia and Eastern Asia and are also known as Green Aubergine. There are several cultivars with specific branded names, including Thai Long Green, Green Elephant Tusk, Hari, Green Knight, Choryoku, Bangladeshi Long, and Little Green Eggplant.