Apr 30, 2009

Thai Vegan Curry..

The following is a recipe I tried out from here. With the Thai Vegan event happening, I was on the lookout for some easy recipes, as although loving thai food, I had never before tried it at home. I try to keep away from peanuts in cooking, plus didn't want to go through the entire process of making the sauces and everything.
Anyways, after narrowing down on a curry (rite, we love curries), this is what I have.
I have used the store-bought readymade green curry paste, and I must stress here, that although my picture indicates a bland curry here, its deceiving. That paste was just overly spicy and so the curry went a long way in the spice level even without the spice color.

All in all, we were extremely pleased with this flavorful, spicy, coconuty, vegetable curry and with the ready paste, it worked to be really really easy.

I have adapted the recipe to suit us. You can see the original recipe here.

Ingredients

Extra-firm Tofu - 12 oz. package
Chopped fresh veggies ( carrots, red bell pepper, zucchini, green beans) - 3 cups together
Straw mushrooms, drained - 1 can. I did not use this time, but definitely would recommend.
Potato, cut into chunks - 1 small
Thai kitchen green curry - 1 1/2 - 2 tbsps.
Coconut Milk - 1 can (13 oz.). See note below
Vegetable broth - 1/2 cup.
Sliced bamboo shoots, drained - 8 oz. can
Frozen peas - 1/4 - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste

Method

- Put a large pot of water to boil.
- Slice tofu into 1/2"x1" pieces and on a greased baking sheet, bake them in the oven at 275F for 30 minutes till lightly browned.
- Clean any grit from the mushrooms if using.
- Add the fresh veggies and the potatoes to the boiling water. Cook just until al dente. Strain and set veggies aside.
- Carefully open the coconot milk can WITHOUT shaking or disturbing the can. Spoon out the white cream from the top while keeping the clear liquid at the bottom. You will find the clear liquid after spooning out more than half of the can. Keep them both separate.
- In a large pot or deep frying pan, combine the clear coconut liquid and the vegetable broth. On medium heat, cook the veggies, tofu, bamboo shoots until cooked but not mushy. Add more broth to cover all the vegetables while cooking. Add the mushrooms and peas midway.
- Slowly stir in the coconut milk for desired consistency. Add in the green curry paste and the salt and cook till raw smell goes away.
- Serve hot with rice.


Notes :

- I used only 1/4 of the reserved cream of coconut. Used all of the clear liquid. The original recipe says that this method of separating the clear liquid and the cream is used to get rich curries.
- You could use a mix of many or just a couple of vegetables in this dish.
- This dish tastes better with time, like for the next meal.
- I used the 'Maesri' brand of green curry paste. Its very spicy and fragrant.




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18 Comments:

Manju said...

delicious green curry!!

Meera said...

Looks delicious. I know what you mean by that heat of the curry paste. When i first made it with the readymade paste, I was like - we can easily handle this. and the result was one fiery spicy curry!!:-D

Uma said...

I am like you Maya! I always search for easy recipes too :) Thai curry looks fabulous and yummy! I never used that green paste, I should get one soon as I love spicy things.

Unknown said...

wow.. looks tempting & awesome.. nice entry..

Neha said...

Curry looks yummy ,thanx for sending...

FH said...

I am scared of Thai curry paste in jars too, bloody spicy! :D

Love the Thai curry, Bamboo shoots are my fave. Looks great Maya.

Red Chillies said...

Loved the color combination and the vibrant colors. I am yet to give Thai cooking a try.

Ramya Vijaykumar said...

Healthy and a nuritious curry I am not a fan of white curry this looks very tempting with all the healthy ingredients...

Vanamala Hebbar said...

yummy curry...

Cham said...

I never bought the store curry paste, But the way u said is spicy want to look for... The curry got a excellent color !

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

nice click maya. looks very colorful!!

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy recipe

Purnima said...

Maya..beautiful pic, veggies look so perfectly done! Thai dish surely looks subtle unless mentioned! Lovely entry! (I did get a small bottle of stir fry paste-basil,garlic,green chili,used it up in omelet other dishes in small amounts..as none approved of the taste it lent! Googling too didn't help in finding out recipe!) Now we shall hv a resource tks to the event! :) Thks for sharing this recipe!

sowjanya said...

delicious thai curry maya. I love to eat thai food. This looks like masamman curry that I see at thai restaurants.

chef and her kitchen said...

curry looks yumm..

Geanina Codita said...

wonderful images and text measurement. Congratulations! See you soon!

Srivalli said...

Yummy curry..I am seeing so many tofu today!..:)

Sunshinemom said...

Looks so delectable!