Chicken and aubergine coconut curry

I’m not a fan of chicken skin and bones in a curry or stew. And, while chicken stock is a perfect substitute for those elements of the bird, because it’s made with them in it and then strained, stock doesn’t belong in this kind of a curry either. In fact, curries are almost invariably made with no stock at all.

In many curries, particularly those of the south (and of our own Indian food culture), tomato is the carrier of the other flavours. And water of course. The spices, onion and garlic, ginger et al do the rest of the work.

If there’s a downside to this, it would be argued that stock adds the nuances of the animal’s essence; whether fat or marrow or even the flavour that skin can add. But curries are “cleaner” than stock-based stews, for want of a better word that does not suggest that something made with stock is not clean.

Enter: coconut. More particularly, coconut cream. For certain curries, this is a masterful ingredient and a perfect carrier for any flavour and every spice, without losing its own wonderful flavour. Coconut cream is a wonderful thing, though I am not a fan of its lesser cousin, coconut milk. It just does not have the body I look for in a coconut curry.

I did eye the chicken thighs with their annoying little bones at the supermarket the other day. Annoying because chook thighs are so delicious, and their skin becomes super crispy and wonderful, but again, not in a curry.

Brinjals/ aubergines/ eggplant, call them what you will, have their own downside. They soak up oil like the barflies at the Pig & Whistle in Bathurst (seriously, no shortage of barflies there). Unless you do with them (brinjals, I mean) what I did the other day. 

I used them in this curry, after quickly tossing the cubes in hot oil and cumin seeds just to give them a little flavour before going into the pot. Once in there, they retained their shape and substance, rather than turning to mush. The key to this is that a coconut curry, even with chicken in it, does not take much time at all to cook, so there is no time for them to turn mushy.

Read more in Daily Maverick: What’s cooking today: Durban Mutton Curry

Given my resistance to the come-ons of those cute thighs in the supermarket fridge, I turned instead to the chicken breasts alongside them. No skin, no bones, no fuss. The coconut cream would do the work in this dish.

Rather than use any curry powder/masala, I chose a trio of spices to give it the flavour profile I had in my head: cardamom, turmeric, cumin, and “Asian lime leaves”, which are widely known in the culinary world by what we call the K-word, not “Asian”. That is a sizable rabbit hole to go down, and I might go down it at some point to root out the word’s etymology and culinary history and so on. But that’s for another day. For now, when I write “Asian lime leaves”, they are what I am referring to.

There is onion and garlic in this, and chillies, a squeeze or two of lime juice to finish, and I used coriander leaves as a garnish.

Tony’s chicken and aubergine coconut curry

(Serves 2-4)

Ingredients

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

1 medium red onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

6 dried ‘Asian’ lime leaves

1 tsp ground cardamom (heaped)

1 heaped tsp ground turmeric

1 heaped tsp ground cumin

4 chicken breast fillets, cubed

6 red chillies, chopped

1 can of coconut cream, not milk

Water, as needed

Touch of salt

Juice of 1 lime

Coriander, chopped

Basmati rice, for serving

For the aubergines/brinjals:

2 aubergines, cubed (no need to peel)

2 tsp cumin seeds (for the aubergines)

4 Tbsp coconut oil

Salt to taste

Method

Melt coconut oil in a suitable pan and, when hot, add the onion, garlic and lime leaves and simmer on a lowish heat, stirring, until the onions have softened.

Add the ground cardamom, tumeric and cumin and give it a good stir so that the spices are well distributed.

Add the cubes of chicken and stir to coat. Fry them with the spiced onions on a moderate heat for a few minutes, turning the chicken cubes over, until they have caught colour on all sides.

Stir in the chopped chillies and the coconut cream, bring to a simmer and cook on a low heat for five minutes or so. Salt lightly.

Cube the (clean, dry) brinjals. Melt more coconut oil in a new pan and add the cumin seeds, on a moderate heat. Once the seeds have given the oil their flavour, turn the heat up and fry the aubergine cubes for a few minutes, tossing and turning them.

Toss them into the curry pot and stir them in so that they’re all submerged. If there is not enough liquid to coat everything, add water, just to cover. Stir, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook gently for about 20 minutes.

Serve in bowls with basmati rice, squeeze fresh lime juice over, and garnish with chopped coriander. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed in one of my favourite bowls by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.