Vegetable Thai Curry
My husband and I share this common devotion to Thai food. We're almost addicted to it and religiously have it almost every week. As a matter of fact, it's this common inclination towards Thai cuisine that got the dinner dates rolling couple of years ago! Trying out the different Thai restaurants in town. Not that there were a myriad :-)
There's something about the rich, thick coconut creamy gravy that makes it a delight whether its with prawns, chicken or just some plain veggies.
Until recently, I would buy and stock bottles of the green or red paste. Then one day, I decided to start from scratch and I must say, it really isn't such a big deal. Plus you know exactly what's going in there...no preservatives, no colour...absolutely no jazz!
Ingredients
15 dry red chillies deseeded
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/2 cup chopped red onion ( You could use white if you don't have the red onion)
2 tablespoons chopped lemon grass
3 tablespoons chopped coriander stems (not the leaves)
1/4 cup chopped garlic
4 to 5 thai red chillies
1 tablespoon paprika
3 to 4 peels of lime (just the green peel without any white. The white part tends to make it bitter)
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
500 ml Coconut cream
1 tablespoon soya sauce (If you are a non vegetarian, you could use fish sauce instead of the soya sauce)
4 to 5 basil leaves
1 tablespoon brown sugar or grated jaggery
2 cups mixed veggies (I use some bamboo shoots, bell pepper, mushrooms, egg plant and baby corn)
Method
Soak the dry, deseeded red chillies in 1/2 cup of hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes. In a mixer, add the ginger, onion, lemon grass, cilantro stems, garlic, thai red chillies, lime peel and the dry, deseeded red chilllies. Blend until a fine red paste is formed. Avoid adding water. But, if you must, add the water in which you soaked the dry red chillies. Heat a pan and add one tablespoon oil. Add the red paste and fry until all the moisture and oil oozes out and the paste turns lumpy. At this point, you can choose to remove a couple of spoons of the paste and store it for future use in a clean, dry air tight jar. The paste could easily go up to a month or two if refrigerated in a dry air tight container. Each time you make Thai curry, you would need about 2 to 3 tablespoons of this paste depending on your spice tolerance level. If you're making it for kids, you may want to use less paste.
So getting back to the curry, once you have fried 2 to 3 tablespoons of the paste, add 500 ml coconut cream and bring to a slow boil. Mix well until there are no lumps. Add the mixed veggies, brown sugar, soya sauce, paprika, white pepper powder and salt. Mix well and cook for about 7 to 8 minutes. Add the basil leaves and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remember, the vegetables need to be crunchy and not done to death. So, do not overcook the veggies. Thai curry is best eaten with some steamed rice.
You could use some prawns, chicken or any other meat of your choice instead of the vegetables.
There's something about the rich, thick coconut creamy gravy that makes it a delight whether its with prawns, chicken or just some plain veggies.
Until recently, I would buy and stock bottles of the green or red paste. Then one day, I decided to start from scratch and I must say, it really isn't such a big deal. Plus you know exactly what's going in there...no preservatives, no colour...absolutely no jazz!
Ingredients
15 dry red chillies deseeded
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1/2 cup chopped red onion ( You could use white if you don't have the red onion)
2 tablespoons chopped lemon grass
3 tablespoons chopped coriander stems (not the leaves)
1/4 cup chopped garlic
4 to 5 thai red chillies
1 tablespoon paprika
3 to 4 peels of lime (just the green peel without any white. The white part tends to make it bitter)
1 teaspoon white pepper powder
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
500 ml Coconut cream
1 tablespoon soya sauce (If you are a non vegetarian, you could use fish sauce instead of the soya sauce)
4 to 5 basil leaves
1 tablespoon brown sugar or grated jaggery
2 cups mixed veggies (I use some bamboo shoots, bell pepper, mushrooms, egg plant and baby corn)
Method
Soak the dry, deseeded red chillies in 1/2 cup of hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes. In a mixer, add the ginger, onion, lemon grass, cilantro stems, garlic, thai red chillies, lime peel and the dry, deseeded red chilllies. Blend until a fine red paste is formed. Avoid adding water. But, if you must, add the water in which you soaked the dry red chillies. Heat a pan and add one tablespoon oil. Add the red paste and fry until all the moisture and oil oozes out and the paste turns lumpy. At this point, you can choose to remove a couple of spoons of the paste and store it for future use in a clean, dry air tight jar. The paste could easily go up to a month or two if refrigerated in a dry air tight container. Each time you make Thai curry, you would need about 2 to 3 tablespoons of this paste depending on your spice tolerance level. If you're making it for kids, you may want to use less paste.
So getting back to the curry, once you have fried 2 to 3 tablespoons of the paste, add 500 ml coconut cream and bring to a slow boil. Mix well until there are no lumps. Add the mixed veggies, brown sugar, soya sauce, paprika, white pepper powder and salt. Mix well and cook for about 7 to 8 minutes. Add the basil leaves and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remember, the vegetables need to be crunchy and not done to death. So, do not overcook the veggies. Thai curry is best eaten with some steamed rice.
You could use some prawns, chicken or any other meat of your choice instead of the vegetables.
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