Jungle curry with chicken

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 6 shallots (Thai shallots)
• 6 garlic cloves
• 10 g chili pepper(s), dried, possibly less
• 10 chili peppers (bird’s eye chili – Prik Kee Nuu)
• 50 g galangal
• 50 g root(s) (fingerroot – Krachai)
• 1 tsp lime zest, untreated, grated
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (gapi)
• possibly water
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 liter chicken broth
• 500 g chicken breast
• 20 eggplants (pea eggplants – Makua Puang)
• 200 g beans (wing beans)
• 200 g baby corn, small
• 300 g bamboo shoots
• 1 chili pepper(s), long, green
• 1 chili pepper(s), long, red
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 100 g peppercorns, green
• 100 g root(s) (fingerroot – Krachai)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 6 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 50 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

Gaeng Pa Gai – Thai curry without coconut milk, also called forest curry

For the curry paste, finely slice the lemongrass (only the white core). Briefly soak the dried red chilies in hot water, then finely chop. Finely chop the Thai shallots, garlic, green chilies (prik kee nuu), galangal, and krachai. Finely grind them with the lime zest, gapi, and salt, either in a mortar and pestle or grind them in a food processor with 1-2 tablespoons of water. For the curry, cut the chicken into thin strips. Remove the stems from the pea aubergines. Cut the winged beans diagonally into thirds. Quarter the baby corn lengthwise and cut the bamboo shoots into bite-sized pieces. Halve the red and green long chilies lengthwise, remove the seeds, and cut into thin strips. Tear the kaffir lime leaves. Wash the green peppercorns and divide them slightly (they can stay on the stem). Cut the krachai into fine, longer strips. Heat the oil and fry the paste for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken breast and chicken stock and simmer for about 10 minutes. Now add the remaining ingredients and simmer for another 5 minutes. Season with sugar and fish sauce and serve with rice. Jungle curry is traditionally very spicy. However, you can reduce the heat to your liking. Then simply use a few dried chilies and a few fresh ones for the paste. The vegetables can be changed or added as desired. Pumpkin and bitter gourd are also often added. This curry also tastes good with fish, beef, or pork.