Oh my goodness this is a wonderful, aromatic curry that is full of the flavours of Asia.
It is easy to make, and leaves you with a wonderful afterglow of having eaten something so special.
It is also one of those dishes that you can guess at, it if you lave something add a little more, if you dislike something leave it out.
The “Krung” is basically a curry paste, which has the flavours of lime, lemon grass, ginger and chilli. However this is not a hot curry, I always serve it with a garnish of chopped red chilli to add the heat…
This is especially wonderful on a cold grey damp day, it is almost guaranteed to lift your spirits.
Cambodian "Krung" Curry
This takes about 30 minutes to prepare and an hour of 90 minutes to cook it to perfection.
Ingredients:
- Shallots - 3, peeled and roughly chopped
- Galangal - Use ginger if you have no Galangal, about three inches, peeled and roughly chopped
- Turmeric - 6 pieces peeled, or 2 or 3 generous tsp of ground Turmeric
- Chilli - 2 Chilli peppers sliced roughly, seeds and all
- Kaffir lime leaves - 4, chopped roughly
- Lemon grass - 2 plump shoots chopped roughly
- Lime zest - Taken off the lime with a peeler
- Lime juice - Use the juice from the lime
- Water - A splash of tap water
- Sea Salt - A good pinch
- Shrimp paste - 1 tsp
- Pork Shoulder or Leg - 1lb Diced
- Desiccated Coconut - 2 - 3 tbsp
- Coconut Milk - 1 tin
- Aubergine - Chopped roughly
- Pineapple - 1/2 tin and all the juice
- Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp
- Fish Sauce - 3 tbsp
- Palm Sugar - 1 tsp
- Basil - Roughly torn handful
- Red Chilli - Sliced thin to garnish
Instructions:
Add the Shallots, Galangal (or ginger) Turmeric, Chilli, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Lemon Grass, Lime Zest, Water, Salt and Shrimp Paste to a small food processor and whiz until you end up with a gritty/grainy paste. If you prefer you can grind all of the ingredients in a mortar and pestle. This is the "Krung"
No heat a frying pan and add some oil, when it is smoking add the pork, and fry until it is slightly golden and browned.
Now add the "Krung" stirring it into the pork and brining it to a simmer.
The next step is to add the coconut milk, and let the dish simmer slowly for an hour or so.
Add the desiccated coconut to thicken the sauce.
Finally chop the aubergine, I cut at an angle, then rotate by 90 degrees and chop again, which gives wedge shaped pieces of aubergine. They are nicest when they are cooked and have absorbed the flavour of the sauce, but still firm.
Next add the pineapple and pineapple juice to let the sauce down a little.
Finally add the Tamarind paste, fish sauce and palm sugar.
Just before serving stir in a handful of torn basil, and prepare yourself for a treat.
I serve mine with basmati rice and a garnish of chopped chilli.
Amazing.
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