Today I have something really special for you, namely one of my absolute favourite recipes when it comes to comfort food: a delicious Thai vegetable curry. Who can resist a creamy Thai curry? I certainly can't. And with an extra large portion of vegetables, this dish is also really healthy and easy to digest. If I had to describe this recipe in three words, I'd choose these: light, yet refined and incredibly flavourful. A recipe that is sure to end up on your list of favourites too.
As we all know, what makes a curry special is the mixture of all sorts of spices. Turmeric, ginger, cumin, cardamom, coriander, chilli or pepper are often used. But other spices such as cinnamon, cloves, mustard seeds or black cumin are also frequently found in curries.
In fact, the recipe and the choice of spices differ depending on the origin or region. The way the sauce is prepared also varies from region to region. Basically, a curry is understood to be a dish with a thick sauce and lots of spices, combined with vegetables, fish or meat.
The great thing about this vegetable curry: you can swap the vegetables as you like or use up all your leftover veg. That way you always get a new flavour and the meal definitely never gets boring. I often use carrots, bell pepper, courgettes, broccoli as well as mushrooms and aubergines. But spinach, fennel or cauliflower also work wonderfully in the creamy sauce.
For the curry sauce I use a red Thai curry paste as well as tinned coconut milk. It's important that you don't shake the tin of coconut milk before use. When you open the tin, you'll notice that a firm layer has formed on the surface. And that's exactly what we want to use in a first step. So carefully skim off the firm part and put it into the pan. Leave the remaining coconut water in the tin until later. To the coconut cream I then add my curry paste as well as a little ground curry powder. The heat will dissolve the coconut cream and the sauce will end up beautifully creamy.
In this coconut curry cream I first fry my onions and the garlic and then add the rest of the vegetables. As soon as all the vegetables are coated in the cream, I add the remaining coconut water from the tin and, if needed, a little extra water so that the vegetables can simmer nicely in the sauce.
Just before serving I reach for my absolute secret weapon in the kitchen whenever I'm making Asian dishes: my essential lemongrass oil. How often did I used to get annoyed or stressed because I wanted to make a curry and didn't have any lemongrass. And if I did manage to get to the supermarket, the selection of fresh lemongrass was usually very poor, or I had to buy a whole bunch even though I only needed one stalk … Really tedious. Luckily I no longer have this little problem. Thanks to the lemongrass oil I can now make a curry any time and always have fresh lemongrass to hand. Because for me the aroma of this spice simply belongs in a good Thai curry. I can only recommend that you get yourself such a spice oil too and have your own secret weapon for the kitchen at home.
Now just add a little soy sauce and the delicious, creamy vegetable curry is ready — on the table in 30 minutes.
I like to serve it with basmati rice, because in my eyes that's the perfect side dish for the vegetable curry. Alternatively, you can serve fresh naan bread with it. Freshly squeezed lime juice and chopped coriander are also a must for me, to give the dish plenty of freshness. If you belong to the "anti-coriander" camp, simply leave it out.
Thai Vegetable Curry
- Preparation15 min
- Cooking time25 min
- Total40 min
- Calories780kcal
- Carbohydrates85gof which sugars 9 g
- Protein14g
- Fat41gof which saturated 35 g
- Fibre8g
per serving
Ingredients
- 4 carrots
- 1 bell pepper (red)
- 2 small courgettes
- 2 small heads of broccoli
- 5 mushrooms
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2-4 tbsp curry paste (red)
- 2 tins coconut milk (à 400ml)
- 1 lime
- 1 drop Lemongrass oil (or 1 stalk of lemongrass)
- 2-4 tbsp soy sauce
- fresh coriander
- 400 gr basmati rice
Method
- Peel or wash the vegetables, trim them and cut into pieces.
- Skim the cream off the coconut milk and stir it together with the curry paste in a wok or frying pan. Let it reduce briefly until small oily bubbles form.
- At the same time, wash the rice well and cook it according to the instructions on the packet.
- First add the onion and the garlic to the curry sauce. Fry briefly or let simmer.
- Then add the rest of the vegetables (except for the broccoli and mushrooms) to the wok and fry briefly in the creamy curry sauce, stirring. If you're using lemongrass instead of essential oil, add it to the sauce now. Then add the remaining coconut milk and bring briefly to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer on a low flame for a few minutes until the vegetables have reached the desired consistency (some like their vegetables crunchy, others prefer them cooked soft). About 10 mins before the end of the cooking time, add the broccoli and mushrooms so they don't get too soft. Season to taste with a little lime juice, the soy sauce and 1 drop of Lemongrass, and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Arrange the rice on the plates with the finished curry. Garnish with coriander as you like and serve. Enjoy!
Notes
The vegetables can be swapped depending on the season and your preferences. Go ahead and get creative and let the seasonal vegetables inspire you.
Careful with the heat: ready-made pastes sometimes differ a lot in their level of spiciness. It may be that just 1 tbsp of curry paste is enough if you don't like the heat or don't tolerate it so well.
Cooking with essential oils
In this recipe:Lemongrass Oil
How to dose essential oils (toothpick method!), when to add them and what to look out for — it is all in the guide.
Have you made this recipe? Tag @oatoclock_blog on Instagram so we can see the result.
Leave a Reply