Green curry with Vegetables and Tofu

RB loves green curry. That’s the only thing he will order if we ever go to a Thai place. I on the other hand will go straight to the noodles section to see if there are any vegetarian options. I love noodles… period! But I make sure that I tell the waiter again and again that I do not want any fish sauce in my recipe. Even after all these precautions I can enjoy the food only after I’ve smelled it and made RB taste test it to make sure it doesn’t smell fishy or funky! I can be pretty paranoid about this. Rb has no problem testing it.. he can tolerate a spoon or so of fish tasting food. Green curry always seems to be a safer option in Thai restaurants for vegetarians. If it wasn’t for my obsession with noodles I would be ordering that all the time. It is tasty, mildly sweet and spicy, lemony and flavorful. Best of all it has loads of coriander, which is one of my favorite herbs. The recipe is actually very simple though the ingredient list may seem pretty daunting. Once we source all the ingredients, the cooking part of it is relatively easy. I have no idea how an authentic green curry tastes. There are slight differences in how the curry tastes in India and in the US. I have tried to make a recipe that I like and I have to say the green curry fanatic in my family loved it! My mil loved it so much that she has asked me to post the recipe for her to try once she gets back home. So this recipe is for you amma 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 small sweet potato cubed
• 1/2 cup tofu cubed
• handful of sugar snap peas
• 1 carrot diced
• half bell pepper cubed
• 1/2 cup zucchini and yellow squash diced
• 2-3 lemon grass stalk
• 6-7 basil leaves
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp lemon juice (more or less as per taste)
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• salt to taste

(You can also use other veggies of your choice – broccoli, cauliflower,eggplant, asparagus, squash)

For the green curry paste:

• 4-5 green chillies (use more if you want it more spicy)
• 11/2 tbsp garlic chopped
• 1 inch piece galangal or ginger (I used ginger)
• 3 tbsp lemon grass chopped finley
• 3/4 cup coriander leaves and stalk tightly packed
• 1/4 cup basil leaves
• 11/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp brown sugar
• 11/2 tsp coriander powder
• 11/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp lemon rind
• salt to taste
• coconut milk as needed for grinding

Method:

Take all the ingredients for the curry paste and grind it to make a smooth paste.

Take  2 cups water in a pan and add the lemon grass stalks to it. Slice the lemon grass in half before you add it to the water. Boil the water in a low medium flame for 10-15 mins or more and make a stock out of it. It should smell lemony once you are done with it. Set the water aside. You will be using this to enhance the flavor of the curry.

Add coconut oil to a pan and when hot, add the green curry paste and saute it for a couple of minutes or until you get a nice aroma. Do not burn the paste.

Add the vegetables and tofu to the pan and add the lemon grass stock to it. Also add the coconut milk, basil leaves, lemon rind and salt. Close the pan and let the vegetables cook in a low medium flame and take the flavor of all the wonderful spices and herbs.

(Make sure you drain the water out of tofu completely. I used extra firm tofu and drained the water for about half an hour before adding it to the curry)

The curry is done when the vegetables are cooked. If you want more liquid in the curry, add more coconut milk or water. Finally add some lemon juice and salt. Serve hot with some brown rice.