Name: Tamarind Chicken with Grilled Eggplant
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 1 brown onion, chopped; 4 long green eggplants (aubergines); 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 15 ml Tamarind Liquid; vegetable oil, for deep-frying; 40 ml fresh lime juice, strained; 40 g coconut palm sugar (gula melaka), shaved; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 20 ml light soy sauce; 2 teaspoons minced ginger; 25 ml fish sauce; 375 ml Tamarind Liquid; 500 g chicken thigh fillets; 3 coriander roots, chopped; 1 stalk lemongrass, finely sliced; 4 red bird’s-eye chillies, chopped; 400 ml coconut milk; 2 teaspoons kapi (Thai shrimp paste); 1 litre White Chicken Stock; 40 ml vegetable oil; 500 ml White Chicken Stock; 25 g palm sugar, shaved; 2 teaspoons castor sugar; 2 tablespoons Fried Shallot Slices; 1 punnet coriander cress, snipped; 250 ml Tamarind Liquid; 2 red shallots, finely sliced; 20 ml fish sauce; 2 tablespoons shredded mint leaves; ¼ teaspoon roasted chilli powder (preferably Blue Tongue)

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Fire

By Christine Manfield

Published 2008

About

I love the combination of coconut and tamarind. The flavours offer such contrast and this chicken dish is an old stalwart from our early restaurant days in Sydney. The long green eggplants are far superior in flavour but if you can’t find them, use the long Japanese purple eggplant – just be aware that its flesh won’t be as creamy. Cooking them whole over hot coals gives a delicious smoky flavour that is hard to emulate with electricity. I always fire up the barbeque when I cook eggplant li