Winter is perfect for spicy curries. And with my Indian heritage, going without a curry for a few days makes me crave for something spicy and soulful. To change things up from my Indian daals and curries I make a lot of Thai curries, with or many times without coconut.
We love Thai red curry. Over the years I developed my own recipe for the paste to suit our personal taste. Store bought ones a pretty good, but the problem I find is they are predominantly chillies, and that takes away from the lovely herbs and spices that Thai food has to offer.
I buy Thai herbs like lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime, Thai basil leaves from Asian markets when they are in season, usually warmer months. When I get home I Prep, chop and freeze them in individual freezer bags for quick use when they are off season. I also make curry pastes and save in ice cube trays for easy week night dinners. This paste is stronger on the herbs and spices and light on the chillies for maximum flavor enjoyment. Play around with your needs and preferences. And make a trip your local Asian market to find all kinds of fun stuff to experiment.
Note: you don’t have to add all the veggies suggested. This is just a ball park, add or subtract as you wish.
For the paste you’ll need
- 1 medium red pepper diced
- 2-3 + hot Thai red chillies or any other hot chilies to your heat tolerance
- 2 stalks lemongrass, cut out the dry top part you’ll only need tender green and white parts
- 5 cloves garlic
- 2″ piece ginger
- 2″ piece galangal
- 1 tablespoon store bought good quality curry paste
- 1-2 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 medium sized shallot
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
In a blender blend everything till smooth. Try this recipe and adjust the herbs and spices to your preference
Thai red curry
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 portion of the red curry paste from the above recipe
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce or fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar
- Juice from 1/2 a lime + more for garnish
- Handful of Thai basil leaves, stalks moved to add at the end
- handul of chopped cilantro
- 2 cans (14 ounces each) full-fat coconut milk / or light coconut milk. I used one each for balanced consistency and calories
- For the vegetables:
- 8-10 oz firm tofu cubed and lightly pan fried
- 8 oz or about 2 cups seitan for added protein or protein of your choice, pan fried in a little oil
- 10 asparagus stems trimmed
- 1 cup okra trimmed or green beans
- 1 cup of broccoli, broken into small florets
- 2 cups cauliflower broken into medium florets
- 1 cup of eggplant, diced
- 1 cup Brussels sprouts
- 1 cup diced butternut squash
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
For the Red Curry
Warm a large sauce pan to a medium heat.
- Add the oil and curry paste. Fry on gently heat till fragrant but not brown.
- Add light coconut milk and vegetables and bring it to a boil. Stir.
- Now add the thick coconut milk and cook veggies, tofu and seitan till veggies are tender but not mushy.
- Now add lime juice, coconut sugar, soy sauce and mix well.
- Take it off the heat and add basil and cilantro leaves
- Serve with steamed rice with more basil leaves and lime slices.
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