I realised the other day that it had been a long time since Cindy and I had made a Thai curry at home. We've ventured out for (unblogged) takeaway a few times, but it's been nothing but Pad Thai coming out of our kitchen. Luckily, as soon as I mentioned this to Cindy, she pointed me in the direction this recipe from Lucy at Nourish Me.We're entirely on Lucy's side when it comes to coriander - both of us are huge fans of its sharp flavours. As an added bonus, we don't have any problem with tofu, so this was a sure-fire winner. I think the broth is the key to the whole thing - when I've made curries in the past, the bulk of this liquid would either have been water or some instant-stock. Instead, this recipe has you simmering down a broth of coriander stalks, ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime-leaves (which are growing in huge plants in the communal areas of our flat complex!), until all you're left with is a citrusy, Thai-flavoured stock - the perfect base for a saucy curry.
We swapped the silken tofu for something a little firmer, and switched the red onions for shallots, but otherwise we followed Lucy's directions to the letter. In future I'd probably add in a few extra vegies - maybe some finely chopped carrot and capsicum. But that's a minor quibble - this was a wonderful evening meal - rich and subtle, with just enough spice to satisfy my chilli-cravings. The runny mixture soaked into our brown rice perfectly, making for a mushy, spicy feast. This is easily the best Thai curry sauce I've made - one that I'll come back to again and again.
For the full recipe, swing by Nourish Me.
Glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteMust say I could cry with jealousy that you've got kaffir limes growing so close by. The fresher, the better.
I use that stock in everything vaguley Thai now. Carrots would be good with it and so would fresh mung bean sprouts or snow peas.
There's a good Thai cookbook by David Thompson with several nice curry recipes. Not Vege, but you should be able to easily adapt them.
ReplyDeleteAs he mentions in the book, Light Soy Sauce is a good replacement for the Fish Sauce used in many traditional Thai recipes (we do the same thing at home).
Hrm. Thinking back to what my mum has used in her many curry variations, potatoes are a quite good as are pumpkins and zucchinis.
I think doing a thai-style carrot salad would work well with the curry.
Also, keep in mind that there are actually many varieties of curry powder. In the past i've had a curry (at home) that was the proper red curry colour but was not very spicey at all. I've also had some really hot ones.
If you do find it not spicey enough, you can add some hot praprika powder if you've got any.
Another option with the curry is to forgo the rice and just eat it with bread with curry as the dip.