Green or red Thai curry
Ingredients:
- 30g ginger
- 30g lemongrass
- 30g shallots
- 30g garlic
- 2 teaspoons cumin powder
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 2 limes
Make it green:
- 30g green bell pepper
- 30g sweet basil (+20g for serving)
- 2 teaspoons ground white pepper
- some green chillies
or make it red: - 60g red bell pepper
- 5g black pepper (about 2 teaspoons)
- some red chillies
- 20g thai basil (+5g for serving)
- coconut oil
- 2 cans of coconut milk (800g total)
- cashews
- 40g jaggery/muscovado sugar
- 30g vegan fish sauce
- various mushrooms
- green beans
- butternut squash
- potatoes
- cauliflower
- mangetout (sugar snaps)
- cherry tomatoes
- tofu
- wholegrain rice
Methods:
- Start boiling the rice.
- Very roughly chop ginger (no need to peel it), lemongrass, shallots, garlic, bell pepper, chillies (and basil if it’s a green curry). Place all of that into a bowl.
- To the bowl, add all the dry ground spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt and white/black pepper) and zest of 2 limes. Hand blender this into paste.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat a bit of coconut oil. Add the curry paste and fry for a couple of minutes, until it smells really good. Don’t let it stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Add cans of coconut milk, and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Meanwhile, toast cashews in a clean frying pan.
- Add jaggery/muscovado sugar and vegan fish sauce to the curry. Give it a moment, then taste to adjust salt and spiciness levels.
- Start cutting the veggies (mushrooms, green beans, squash, potatoes, cauliflower, mangetout or whatever you have) in the order from hardest to softest. Add them into the curry in that order.
- Cube the tofu and add it in. Add the cashews. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them in. (If it’s a red curry, chop the thai basil and add it in.)
- Close the lid to let the veggies soften. Once the potatoes are no longer crunchy, but still retain a lot of resistance to bite, and the cauliflower is cooked but still crunchy, take the pot off the heat.
- Serve with rice, a generous squeeze of lime juice and topped with basil.
Inspired by: Brian Lagerstrom
Notes: try adding a jar of galangal to the curry paste, try adding lime leaves into the curry, try skipping fish sauce.