This is amusing. I googled "watercress risotto," got your site, noticed a link about Thai curry, and it links my article. Thanks!

Lucky you for finding pea eggplants. I love them. In the couple of years since I wrote that column, I've finally made a few curry pastes that I'm proud of. It's still a long road, and the lure of prepared paste is strong, but when I made <a href="http://forums.egullet.com/index.php?showtopic=29373">Pim's Massaman Curry</a> for some friends, they pronounced it the best curry they'd ever had. It's a nice one to start with, since even the good brands of massaman paste aren't that good.

Matthew

Hi Matthew,

that is very amusing! I'm glad to hear that you've done more experimenting with curry pastes - I'm on my way to check out that Massaman one right now.

Yum, green curry. I'm going to get me a bottle after reading your post. ;)

I should add that there's no reason not to make a vegetarian version of the Massaman curry; in my opinion the most important ingredient in the curry is not beef but potatoes. A potato-eggplant Massaman curry, for example, would be great.

Thanks for this. I also use Mae Ploy, and it has a lady on it, in the top right corner of the label. Thanks for providing this recipe. I can't fault it although this http://www.e-lopers.com/community_thai.htm) recipe has some differences and I can't figure out the reason. Your recipe is healthier but the other guy doesn't seem to cook his vegetables very long. Readers beware, I had to settle my baby halfway though cooking this and I left it to simmer on the stove too long. My Asian eggplants dissolved into the curry and all that was left was the skins!

Hi 3Jane,
the amounts of lime juice and palm sugar and so on that I add change each time I make the recipe, depending on the strength of the juice etc, so those amounts are always an approximation. That other recipe does seem to add the eggplants at the end without cooking them, which is a bit odd. I made this curry again last night myself and ended up only cooking the vegetables for about 7 minutes, since the eggplant I had was very tender - it really all depends on the ingredients!

By the way, Meg, I read on another site the following re the length of cooking the coconut cream:

1. In a medium saucepan, warm the coconut cream over medium heat until it boils gently. Adjust heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. The coconut cream should become fragrant as it cooks. When tiny pools of oil glisten on the surface, add the curry paste and stir to dissolve. Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes.

From http://www.gourmetspot.com/recipegreencurry.htm

Thanks 3Jane! I'll give that a go next time I make this.

Hi

I'm with Jane on this one, you need at least 6-10 min of coconut bubbling time to get the oil to separate out. This 'cracking' of the coconut oil gives a richer and more authentic taste. It does depend on the oil content of the coconut milk. As always, go for look feel and smell over explicit timings.
Cant't wait to try the szechuan green beans recipe!!

N