khmer pork, coconut & pineapple curry

A friend recently bought me some galangal, which is believed to be close to extinction around Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire! 

Anyway it has been looking at me longingly from the cupboard, so I decided to make this curry, which features a healthy amount of it in.  The recipe is from Rick Steins far eastern odyssey.

This one is for you Mr K ...

Serves 4

Cambodian Khmer curry paste

(kroeung)

25g peeled galangal

1 tsp ground turmeric

20g garlic, chopped

4 fat lemongrass stalks, core chopped

2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

1 tsp Thai shrimp paste

1/2 medium hot red or green chili, chopped

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend with 1 tablespoons of water to get the paste moving.

500g lean boneless pork shoulder

1 small pineapple or 200g prepared fresh pineapple cubes

4 small, round green Thai aubergines or 100g purple aubergine

3 tbsp vegetable oil

40g fresh coconut, grated

300ml coconut milk

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp palm sugar

1 tbsp tamarind water

leaves from 1 small bunch Thai sweet basil (I used coriander)

Cut the pork into 2.5-3cm pieces.  If necessary, peel the pineapple, cut it into 4 wedges lengthways, slice away the core and cut the fruit into chunks.  Cut the round green aubergines into wedges or the purple aubergines into pieces similar in size to the pineapple.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a wide based pan or wok, add half of the pork pieces and brown lightly on all sides.

Set aside on a plate and repeat the remainder.

Add the remaining oil and the curry paste to the pan or wok and fry gently over a medium heat for 2-3 minutes until it starts to smell aromatic.  Return the pork and to the pan with 300ml of water , part-cover and leave to simmer gently for 1 hour.

Uncover, add the grated coconut, pineapple, aubergines and coconut milk and simmer with the lid off for a further 10 minutes.  Add the fish sauce, sugar and tamarind water, then stir in the basil.  Season to taste with salt and serve.