After Indian food, our favorite cuisine has to be Thai. (For our kids Italian might take the trophy 🙂 ) The spices used are quite close to Indian spices. The addition of coconut milk adds a very pleasant aroma and flavor which is again very similar to some foods from south India. Thai food can also be spicy hot which is another big factor for us.
Typical Thai curries seen in restaurants are Green curry, red curry, masaman curry Penang curry etc. Green curry is the spiciest version and masaman is the mildest one. All these curries can be created from scratch at home using regular spices. Three of the Thai herbs which are rare to find are galangal, kefir lime leaves and lemon grass. So I substitute them with regular ginger, lime peel and lemon grass powder (which is available in jars). If lemon grass is not available, it is ok to omit it.
The recipe I am sharing today is for Green curry paste. Make the paste in advance and store it in glass jars in fridge. I always make a double batch and freeze a jar so I can pull it out and use it for a quick meal another day.
The vegetables used for making green curry are broccoli, zucchini, asparagus, bean sprouts, pea pods, bell peppers, cabbage etc. I am using a mix of broccoli, zucchini and orange peppers. I am also adding tofu to boost the plant protein content. Finally, topping it off with fried cashewnuts for the crunchy element.
Serve the green curry with simple brown rice and a crisp cucumber salad on the side. The spice and warmth works very well for yet another winter night supper 👍
Thai Green Curry recipe
Ingredients –
For the Green curry paste –
- Dry spices – cumin, coriander, black pepper – 1 tsp each
- Ginger, garlic, Green chilies, cilantro (coriander leaves) – 1 tbsp each
- Shallot – 1 small chopped
- Lemon peel – 3 pieces
- Lemon grass – 2 inch piece
Dry roast all the ingredients and grind to a fine paste with 1/2 cup water.
Ingredients for curry –
- Mixed veggies (cubed) – broccoli, zucchini, peppers – 2 cups
- Shallot (chopped) – 1/2 cup
- Tofu (fried) – 1 cup
- Coconut milk – 400 ml
- Sesame oil – 1 tsp
Procedure –
- First fry the tofu and set aside, I used an Air Fryer.
- Next heat a pan with 1 spoon of sesame oil, add shallots and fry for 2 mins.
- Add all the vegetables, 2-3 tbsps of the green curry paste, salt and mix well.
- Add 1/2 of the coconut milk and 1 cup of water, put a lid on and simmer for 3 minutes.
- Add the remaining coconut milk, tofu and bring to a low boil another 2-3 minutes.
- Do not over cook the veggies, they have to be crisp tender.
- Top with fried cashewnuts.
- Serve the curry over brown rice.
