Thai Jungle Curry

This Thai curry is unlike many of the Thai curries that you will be familiar with. Jungle curry contains no coconut milk since no coconuts grow in the jungles of northern Thailand. It was also originally prepared from wild boar but these days it is mainly prepared from pork or chicken.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Jungle Curry Paste

4 birds eye red chillies
2 lemongrass stalks, white part only
4 shallots, peeled
2-3 cm piece of galangal
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp shrimp paste
2 lime leaves, shredded
1 tsp green peppercorns in brine

For the Curry

1 tbsp vegetable oil
600g wild boar/pork fillet, cut into strips
½ red pepper, cut into strips
75g bamboo shoot strips, tinned
16 pea aubergines or 2 small aubergines, quartered
6 baby corn, halved lengthways
75g thin green beans
1 tsp fish sauce
½ tsp palm sugar
300ml chicken stock
2 lime leaves, torn
Handful Thai basil leaves
50g roasted, unsalted peanuts, chopped

Method

To make the paste, roughly chop the chillies, lemongrass, shallots, galangal and garlic. Place in a food processor with the shrimp paste, lime leaves, peppercorns and 2 tbsp water. Blend to a paste.

Toast the peanuts in a dry pan until browned.

Heat a wok with the oil and add 2 tbsp of the paste cooking until fragrant. Add the wild boar/pork and red pepper and stir-fry until the meat is just cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Add the bamboo shoots, aubergine, baby corn, green beans, fish sauce, palm sugar, chicken stock and lime leaves.

Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. Return the meat to the wok, stir in the basil and serve with boiled jasmine rice with the peanuts sprinkled over.

Notes and tips:

Substitute palm sugar with brown sugar if none available