Vegetable Thai Red Curry Recipe

Vinu saw Jamie Oliver cook a red Thai curry on TV and couldn’t resist having a go at her own version.  I have to say that the result really blew me away and it is now one of my favourite meals.

If you’re interested, Jamie’s recipe is here: http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/jamie-oliver/thai-red-prawn-curry-and-papaya-platter-meal

Vinu’s version is below.  The great thing about this recipe is that while the spices are fairly precise, you can pick and choose the vegetables to create your own variations depending on what you have available.

• 2 stalks of lemongrass
• 1 fresh red chilli  I generally deseed chillis
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 kaffir lime leaves Fresh, dried or frozen
• Bunch of fresh coriander We used 20 gm to make paste
• 2 Red peppers roasted  I roasted them in a pan with groundnut oil
• 4 heaped tsp tomato purée
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger
• 1 Small Broccolli
• 2 Sweet Potatoes (Medium sized) Peeled and chopped into two inch cubes
• 150gm butternut squash Peeled and chopped into 2 inch cubes
• 200g sugar snap peas (optional)
• 1 x 400g tin of coconut milk
• 2 limes, to serve
• 300g brown rice

Red curry: Preheat the oven to 180deg C and then bake the butternut squash and sweet potatoes for around 30 mins until semi-soft and slightly brown on edges (caramalise, not burn!).  If you are a fan of red peppers like I am, throw in a few chopped and deseeded in this tray of veggies.  Trim the ends off your sprouting broccoli or your normal flower broccoli, and chop it into florets and keep them ready to add to the pan.

Put a large frying pan on a medium heat. Trim the ends and tough outer leaves of the lemongrass stalks, bash up the stalks with the side of a knife, then put into a food processor with 1 fresh red chilli (stalk removed), 2 peeled cloves of garlic, 4 lime leaves, a bunch of coriander, 2 roasted red peppers, 4 heaped teaspoon of tomato purée,  2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil. Peel and add 2cm of fresh ginger. Blitz to a paste – you might need to stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides so it all gets whizzed up.
Drizzle some olive oil into the hot frying pan and add the broccoli. Let them fry for around 2 minutes, then add all of the the curry paste and stir and fry for a minute or two before adding the coconut milk. Stir as it melts down, then leave to simmer on a medium to low heat.

Once your roasted veggies are ready, just add them to this sauce and then simmer for another 5 minutes.

Jasmine rice: Put a medium saucepan on a medium heat. Add the mug of rice, a pinch of salt, a splash of olive oil, the 2 jasmine teabags or flower, and cover with 2 mugs of boiling water (use the same mug you used for the rice). Cover with a lid and cook for 7 minutes, then take off the heat and leave to steam with the lid on for 7 minutes.  (We use brown rice with a handful of red unrefined rice and it goes really well with this curry)

To serve: Taste the curry and correct the seasoning with a few drops of soy sauce if needed. Scatter over the reserved coriander leaves.. Cut the remaining limes into wedges for squeezing over.  Fluff up the rice with a fork, then take to the table.  Dish up the rice, ladle over the curry and let the compliments roll in!

 

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Posted by Vineeta on 18 January 2013