This is an authentic Thai recipe from Muoi Khuntilanont's Kitchen. The recipe was written up by Muoi's husband, Ian Philpott.

In western restaurants serving Thai cuisine, the green curry is often the hottest on the menu, however in Thailand the curry is generally a touch milder, or perhaps the red curry is a touch hotter. Anyway the Thai names for the curries are "sweet & sour curry", for the green, and "hot curry" (kaeng phet) for the red. Whilst green curry should be hot, it should still have a distinct sweet and sour edge to the heat, a point to bear in mind when tasting it for the balance of seasoning.

A recipe for the curry paste may be found here.

• 6 ounces chicken (in smallish bite sized pieces)
• ½ cup of coconut milk
• 4 ounces Thai eggplant (these are small round eggplants the size of gardenpeas)
• 1-3 tablespoons green curry paste
• 2 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sweet basil
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 2 kaffir lime leaves (or a little lime zest)

Cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces, then briefly fry the curry pasteuntil fragrant, reduce the heat, add the coconut milk slowly, and continue tostir whilst cooking until a thin film of oil apppears on the surface.

Add the chicken and other ingredients except the eggplant. Bring to a boiland cook until the chicken begins to change colour. Adjust the flavors to suityourself. When it is at a boil again add the eggplant and continue till thechicken is cooked through.

May be served with steamed 'jasmine' long grain rice, or with other Thai dishes.