Chicken & Eggplant Curry

Happy Friday everyone! Now that the week is over, I finally had a chance to go the supermarket and pick up some ingredients for tonight's blog post, which may I add, is EXTRA special because it's my first blogged meal! (My sister beat me to it.) Tonight was my first time making a curry dish, and I must say it came out pretty great. I was inspired to cook curry when I passed my favorite Thai restaurant on my way to the supermarket. I should also probably preface that Thai food is my absolute favorite type of cuisine so there is rarely a moment when I'm not craving it. Although this dish isn't exactly Thai, I used a lot of Asian ingredients for that reminiscent flavor. 

 Unfortunately, I currently only own green plates, which camouflage the color and richness of the dish, but I can assure you it looked and tasted great. 

Ingredients (serves 4)
Adapted from Eating Well July/August 2009

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon Thai green curry paste, or 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 14-ounce can Light Coconut Milk
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 2 large pieces of chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 3 tablespoons lime juice

I do most of my food shopping at Trader Joe's, but some ingredients, like the fish sauce, required me to go to a larger supermarket with an Asian isle. 

Preparation:

1. Before preparing the ingredients, first cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch wedges and lay them on a paper towel. Sprinkle salt on the eggplant so that a significant amount of moisture is absorbed by the paper towel. This keeps the eggplant from becoming too soggy while cooking. Allow the eggplant to sit for a few minutes, then cut the wedges into smaller cubes.

2. Next heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the curry paste (or powder) and cook for about 1 minute. Add the eggplant until it is covered well with the curry paste.

3. Add coconut milk, brown sugar, and fish sauce to the skillet.* When the mixture is boiling, add the cut up chicken and snap peas. Stir occasionally until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, approximately 7 minutes. Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and basil. 

4. Serve over whole grain rice. I generally try to avoid enriched grains because for the same taste, whole grain rice is a much healthier match for this meal.

*Make sure to not skip the fish sauce for this recipe. It is essential for the rich Thai taste of the curry.

I hope you enjoyed my first blog post! Thanks for reading!

~A