Thai red curry is an aromatic blend of spices and vegetables with familiar flavours of Indian cuisine especially Kerala ( my opinion ) on account of the use of coconut milk . The lemon grass and galangal with the rich curry paste which forms the heart of the dish makes it an exotic dish worth making .
As it is difficult to get vegetarian Thai red curry paste it is easy to prepare at home and storing in freezer for several times over. Galangal is a rhizome from Ginger family but doesn't taste like ginger but more peppery taste. with only a faint ginger taste. It has a lighter skin colour and used the same way as ginger by peeling skin and using either minced or as a paste .Galangal is the essence of almost all vegetarian Thai food and used widely in their cuisine. Ginger may be substituted for the dish .( try to get hold of it though )

Ingredients:

1 cup of mixed vegetables like carrots, broccoli florets, corn, peppers ( your choice)
chop vegetables to strips .
5-6 shallots
some cubes of tofu or paneer.
2 tbsp spring onion greens and white parts of onions
1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 tbsp freshly grated galalngal / ginger
2 cloves garlic grated or crushed
2-3 tbsp Thai red curry paste ( recipe for Thai red curry paste given below )
1 tsp chili flakes
salt as required
1 cup thick coconut milk
A pinch of brown sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
some basil leaves or coriander leaves for garnishing .

Method :

Heat a pan with coconut oil or olive oil.add the ginger garlic and sautee well.Add the shallots and spring onions, sautee till tender .Add remaining vegetables and cook with sprinkles of water till just about tender.Add tofu or paneer pieces.Add the Thai red curry paste, coconut milk, reduce flame to low, add little water if mixture appears thick.Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, stir well.Remove from flame , dont overcook after adding coconut milk.Sprinkle spring onion greens, basil or coriander leaves for garnishing.Serve with brown or white rice.

Thai red curry paste 

Ingredients:

3 tbsp coriander stalks

3 tbsp coriander leaves

1/2 tbsp cumin seeds

5-6 red whole chilies

1 1/2 tbsp galangal or ginger

3 tbsp garlic

4 tbsp lemon grass

1/2 tsp pepper corns

2 tbsp salt

1/2 cup shallots

1 tbsp lime zest ( kaffir lime)

Method:

Soak the red chillies in warm water till soft.

slice lemon grass to smaller pieces.

keep garlic peeled and so also shallots.

Grind the dry ingredients like pepper and cumin separately. grind all other ingredients to a thick wet paste.Add the dry powdered ingredients to the wet paste and blend well.

Store in freezer till required.

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