Green Thai Curry

It is not uncommon for me to come home with a few ingredients not on the list when I go grocery shopping. Since this habit gives me the chance to carry out culinary experiments, I do not grudge it at all.  So last month that item not on the list and yet in my shopping bag turned out to be coconut milk.  I had never cooked with it before and was getting more and more embarrassed about that fact day by day.

Armed with a couple of veggies in the refrigerator and the coconut milk, I decided to cook Thai curry with two key ingredients missing – Lemon grass and Thai chilies. The curry still turned out delicious and worth a post on this blog. I have to thank my cousin Kshiti Dave and my friend Krupal Shah whose recipes I combined and created a third one which you can find right here!

Ingredients

Red bell pepper – ½  medium

Yellow bell pepper – ½  medium

Broccoli florets – 1 cup

Potato – 1 medium

Carrots – 2 medium

Zuchini – 1 small

Coconut milk – 1 can

Vegetable broth – 1 can

For the paste

Chopped Cilantro – 1 cup

Ginger – 1 big piece

Lemon rind – ½ tsp

Onion – 1 medium

Garlic- 4 clove

Mint – 6 to 8 leaves

Water cress – 10 to 12 leaves

Basil (dry) – 1 tsp

Rosemary – ½ tsp

Thyme (dry) – 1 tsp

Salt and pepper

Cumin and coriander powder – 1 tsp

Thai red chili sauce – 1 tsp

Green chilies – 4 small

Water – ½ cup

Oil – as needed

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and sauté roughly chopped onion for 2 minutes on high flame. Add garlic cloves and ginger chopped into small pieces and cook some more. Add the remaining ingredients for the paste and mix well. Add half a cup of water and cook covered for 10 minutes. Let it cool and grind it into a thick paste. Keep aside.

In another pan heat 1 tsp oil and sauté chopped bell peppers for a minute. Cut potato into cubes and add it next.  Add slices of carrots and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring all the time. Next add broccoli florets and slices of zucchini. Pour in the vegetable broth, a pinch of salt and pepper and mix well. Cook covered till the vegetables are done. Add water if needed.

In a small pan empty the can of coconut milk and heat on slow flame. Once it starts to simmer, add the coconut milk to the vegetables cooked separately. Add the green paste made earlier and mix everything well together. Turn on the heat and cook the whole curry for a couple of minutes. Serve it hot and immediately (the aroma of the curry makes it impossible to resist eating).

Couple of pointers for this Thai curry are: one it is a very very fragrant dish and another it can get impossibly spicy to eat if you are not careful with those chilies. So keep that in mind and enjoy!

Serving suggestions

·         With brown or white rice

Tips

·       Use of lemon grass, Kaffir lime leaves, galangal and Thai chilies will make the dish more authentic.

·         The green paste can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated.

·         Garnish with fresh Basil leaves to add to the delicious fragrance of the curry.

  Interesting fact

·         Thai food was traditionally eaten with the right hand but is now eaten with a spoon and a fork.

This curry is going to :
http://myedibles.blogspot.com/2011/10/announcing-healthy-cooking-challenge.html
http://www.mytastycurry.com/2011/05/hcc-healthy-cooking-challenge.html



And
http://www.simplysensationalfood.com/2011/12/announcing-event-lets-cook-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+simplysensationalfood%2FkLCS+%28simply.food%29