Place the cumin and coriander seeds in a small frying pan and toast over a medium heat for 30 seconds until fragrant. This releases the natural oils.
1½ tsp cumin seeds, 1½ tsp coriander seeds
When toasted, pour into a pestle and mortar and grind into a fine powder.
Chop the whole red chillies (the seeds give it a lovely heat) and place into a processor. Add the dried chillies together with a tablespoon of the soaking liquid and blend into a puree.
8 fresh red chillies
Pour out and put to one side until needed.
Add the remaining paste ingredients into the processor and blend into a paste
2 tsp shrimp paste, 1 bunch coriander, 6 leaves kaffir lime leaves, 2 large red chillies, 5 cm ginger, 3 cloves garlic, 3 stalks lemon grass, ½ tsp white pepper
Now to make the curry.
Add the oil into a high sided frying pan or better still a wok. Heat the oil and fry the shallots for 5 minutes until softened. Now add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds more. Do not over cook the garlic.
2 tbsp groundnut oil, 2 cloves garlic, 2 large shallots
Add 4 heaped tbsp of your curry paste and fry for about 1 minute
Add ½ tbsp fish sauce, lime leaves, 150ml water, palm sugar, coconut milk, and the aubergines.
400 ml coconut milk, 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tsp palm sugar, 4 leaves kaffir lime leaves, 4 small aubergines
Bring the mix to a boil and then reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the sliced chicken breasts and cook for another 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
3 large chicken breasts
Finally, add the beans and cook for a further 5 minutes until tender.
150 g green beans
Remove the pan/wok from the heat and taste for seasoning. Often a little extra fish sauce is needed .