Thai Red Curry

How to make it

1. Snap the stems off the dried chilies and shake out the seeds, so the curry gets color and deep aroma without becoming unbearably hot.
2. Put the chilies in a bowl, cover them with hot water and let them soak for 20 minutes. They're ready when they're soft and pliable like soft leather. ⏱ 20 min · passive
3. Toast the coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 minutes, until they smell warm and nutty. Tip them out of the pan immediately so the residual heat doesn't scorch them.
4. Pound the soaked chilies and the salt in a stone mortar for 5 minutes, until no whole pieces of skin remain. The salt is the abrasive that tears the fibers apart.
5. Add the galangal, lemongrass, makrut lime zest, cilantro root and white peppercorns one at a time, pounding each completely fine before adding the next. This takes about 10 minutes, and the mixture should feel smooth between your fingers, with no fibers. ⏱ 10 min
   Chef's tip Hardest and most fibrous first — galangal and lemongrass need the longest. Adding a soft ingredient early cushions the blows, and stray lemongrass fibers will still be detectable in the finished sauce.
6. Pound in the shallots and garlic last, and work in the shrimp paste and the toasted seeds for 8 minutes. The paste is done when it's evenly dark red, heavy and glossy.
7. Rinse the jasmine rice in cold water until the water runs nearly clear, and drain well. Put it in a pot with the 6 dl water and bring it to a boil uncovered. The rice is cooked without salt, because the curry itself is strongly salted, and it should provide a cool contrast.
8. Put the lid on, turn the heat down to the lowest setting and let the rice steam for 12 minutes without lifting the lid. ⏱ 10 min · passive
   Chef's tip Every lift of the lid lets steam escape, and the top layer of rice ends up hard in the center. Listen instead: the bubbling sound turns into a faint crackle once the water has been absorbed.
9. Take the pot off the heat and let the rice steam further, covered, for 10 minutes, until the grains are whole and separate and all the water has been absorbed. Leave the lid on until the curry is ready. ⏱ 10 min · passive
10. Open the cans of coconut milk without shaking them, and scrape the thick cream from the top into a wok. Cook the cream over medium-high heat for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it splits and clear beads of oil gather on the surface.
    Chef's tip Wait for the actual split: the cream stops looking like sauce, thickens, and clear oil pools at the edges. That freed oil is the frying medium for the paste — without it the paste boils instead of fries.
11. Stir the whole batch of curry paste into the split coconut oil and fry it for 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until it darkens a couple of shades and smells sharply of chili and toasted shrimp paste.
    Chef's tip Keep it moving and let it fry until the smell shifts from raw to round and toasted. Cooking the shrimp paste and spices in fat is what separates a fragrant curry from one that tastes raw and harsh.
12. Turn the chicken pieces through the paste and fry them for 3 minutes, until they're coated in red paste and white all the way around the outside.
13. Pour in the remaining coconut milk and bring the curry to a boil. Let it simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.
    Chef's tip Keep it at a lazy simmer with bubbles just breaking the surface. A hard rolling boil can make coconut milk separate into grainy curds and oil rather than staying smooth.
14. Add the Thai eggplants and let them simmer along for 8 minutes, until they're tender all the way through but still hold their shape. The chicken is now cooked through with no pink in the middle.
15. Season the curry to taste with the fish sauce and the chopped palm sugar, and let it cook for 2 minutes more. The fish sauce is the dish's salt, so adjust a little at a time until the salty, the sweet and the chili heat are evenly balanced.
16. Take the wok off the heat. Tear in the makrut lime leaves, and fold in the Thai basil leaves and the diagonal slices of red finger chili, so they just barely wilt in the residual heat and keep their fresh aroma.
17. Ladle the curry into a deep bowl and set it in the middle of the table with the steamed rice in its own bowl alongside. Each diner takes a mound of rice on their flat plate and ladles curry next to the rice, not over it, fetching more as they go, so the rice keeps cooling the chili heat.