Jungle Curry

I'd always thought that Jungle Curry was an unbelievably hot curry, I mean, even the name suggests that the curry would include ingredients only found in the deepest, darkest depths of an Asian Rain forest. I was surprised to find that this was by no means the case. It turns out that Jungle Curry is my new favourite Curry. It's quite possible that there are many hotter and spicier recipes for Jungle Curry out there, but this one which I found in Geoff Lindsay's Chow Down Book, has some of the most interesting Asian Flavours that I've tasted.

Start off by making your curry paste. Bash up some white pepper corns in a mortar and pestle

A lot of the flavour in this curry comes from the Green Peppers in the paste. There are a couple of chillies in here, just 2 long green chillies, not too spicy. Similar to a normal Green Curry Paste, there's also Shallots, Garlic, Ginger and Galangal. Books always say it's better to bash up your pastes in a mortar and pestle, but to tell you the truth I'm over that. I have quite a big Mortar and Pestle and even then it's just all too messy. It's so much easier just to put all your ingredients into the blender or a food processor and just whizz it up. It might be less traditional, but it's much easier and less messy - that's what we want, isn't it!?

Mix some of the paste with the chicken and you can marinate it for a little bit if you like, but I just fried up the chicken once it was covered in some paste. Reduce some coconut milk in a saucepan and add more paste, now you've got your sauce. Have your beans ready and blanched. Stir fry some egg plant, your beans and the chicken in some peanut oil and add your sauce, and simmer for a few minutes.

Now you can add the magic ingredient, the fresh Green Peppercorns. The Peppercorns is where this dish gets it's slight spicyness from. It's so different to the heat from chillies, which is what sets this curry apart from others. I tried a few supermarkets before I found these babies, I found them at Carlton Safeway, however, I'm sure you could find them at a good Asian grocery store.

Serve the curry in bowls with some Jasmine Rice and garnished with some Coriander. Seriously, if you've never had this type of Curry before and you're into making curries from scratch at home, give one a go - it's the best!