Fiery Thai Kaeng Pa With Jumbo Prawns

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C (fan)/ 395°F/ Gas 6

Trim the green stalk[s] off the aubergine[s], then chop lengthways until you end up with 8 [16] wedges

Chop each wedge into 3, then add to a baking tray with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil and a pinch of salt

Give everything a good mix up and put the tray in the oven for 20 min or until golden and tender

Meanwhile, peel and chop the ginger, garlic and shallots roughly

Chop the green and red chilli[es] roughly

Pick the coriander leaves from their stalks and set aside for later

Chop the coriander stalks in half

Add everything to a food processor (except the coriander leaves!) and pulse for 10 secs

Bash the lemongrass with a rolling pin, remove the tough outer layer[s] and chop the softer inner core roughly

Zest the lime[s] (grate lightly with a micro-plane or sharp box grater to avoid grating the white pith!)

Add the chopped lemongrass and lime zest to the food processor with 1 tbsp [2tbsp] vegetable oil and 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] water and blitz to a rough paste – this is your spice paste

Add the basmati rice and 300ml [600ml] cold water to a pot with a lid and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to very low and cook, covered, for 10-12 min or until all the water has absorbed and the rice is cooked

Once cooked, remove from the heat and keep covered until serving

Whilst the rice is cooking, boil half a kettle

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium heat

Once hot, add the spice paste with the kaffir lime leaves and a pinch of salt and cook for 5-6 min, stirring continuously, or until fragrant

Once the spice paste is fragrant, add the fish sauce and 200ml [350ml] boiled water with 1 tsp [2 tsp] sugar and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for a further 2-3 min or until slightly thickened

Once slightly thickened, add the juice of 1/2 [1] lime with the jumbo prawns and cook for a further 4-5 min or until the prawns are cooked through

Meanwhile, chop the remaining lime into wedges

Add the cooked aubergine with most of the coriander leaves (save some for garnish!) and gently stir it all together – this is your fiery Thai Kaeng Pa