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© Copyright 1995-2023, Clay Irving <clay@panix.com>, Manhattan Beach, CA USA
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Recipe from: Colonel Ian F. Khuntilanont-Philpott
Before you rush out to try this, you need a heavy and very sharp knife and a degree of skill if you are not to have a messy accident - spilling the contents of the coconuts all over the kitchen may well be the least of your problems. You can open the coconuts some other way, and serve the dish in more conventional tableware!
For the curry paste:
¼ kachai (lesser ginger), peeled and chopped
8 prik chee fa daegn haeng (dried red jalapeños), crushed
2 tablespoon takrai (lemon grass), bruised, thinly sliced
3 tablespoon shallots, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoon kratiem (garlic), chopped
1 teaspoon green peppercorns
1 teaspoon kapi (fermented shrimp paste)
a dash of fish sauce
For the curry:
10 bai makrut (kaffir lime leaves), shredded
4 coconuts
4 cups chicken, cut into bite sized pieces.
¼ cup nam pla (fish sauce)
3 cups chicken stock, or water
½ cup makhua pro (thai eggplant), quartered
½ cup prik che fa (green Thai jalapeños), julienned
½ cup bai maenglak (lemon basil)
Prepare the curry paste by grinding everything to a paste. Pierce the coconuts and reserve the juice. Using a machete chop off the top of each, just above the mid-point. Scoop out the coconut 'meat' with a spoon (or a melon baller). Mix about ½ cup coconut for every 2 cups of juice and refrigerate. Reserve ½ cup of coconut meat. Heat a wok over medium high heat, and then add a little oil and stir fry the curry paste until aromatic. Add the chicken, fry briefly and add the remaining ingredients, except the lime leaves and the chicken stock. Stir fry until the chicken begins to change colour. Add the stock, cover, and simmer until the chicken and the eggplant are cooked. Serve in coconut shell bowls, garnished with the lime leaves, and accompanied by rice in the tops of the coconut shells along with the chilled coconut nectar as a refreshing cool drink.