Thai Green Curry

Continuing further with the thai cuisine, here is the quite famous Thai Green Curry. A yummy, healthy and colourful main course for the thai taste buds!

Let us first start with the Thai Green Curry Paste - the base of this curry.

Serves: 5 - 6 Preparation Time: 15-20 mins Cooking Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

For Green Curry Paste:

2 green chillies
1/2 cup coriander, chopped
2-4 kaffir lime leaves or lime leaves
5-6 green basil leaves
4 stalks of lemon grass
4  garlic cloves
1" ginger
1/2 tbsp brown sugar or regular white sugar
2 spring onion, roughly quartered, only whites
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, whole
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground (optional)
3 tbsp oil (optional)

For Green Curry:

1 1/2 cup coconut milk (200ml appx.)
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup baby corn, sliced diagonally
1/2 cup carrots, sliced diagonally
1/2 cup broccoli, florets
3 tbsp tofu or cottage cheese/paneer
1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup zucchini, sliced
1/4 cup brinjal, diced
Oil
Salt as per taste

Method:

1. In a mixer/food processor/blender, take all the ingredients under 'For Green Curry Paste' and blend it into a coarse paste. You may use a little water if required. Mix it well and keep aside.

2. Now to proceed further, chop all the vegetables as under 'For Green Curry' and keep aside.

I did not use all the veggies due to taste preferences, hence feel free to use as per your taste.

I used colourful bellpeppers instead.

3. Now, take a deep vessel and heat some oil. Now fry the paneer or tofu pieces until slightly brown and keep it aside. This will ensure that they don't break while stirring.

4. In the remaining oil now sauté the green curry paste until the water dries out and it starts oozing out oil. 

5. Once done, now add the vegetables and let it cook for about 5 mins. 

6. Add the coconut milk diluted with equal amount of water. Add salt and let it all cook until the vegetables are soft.  If you feel the curry is too thin, you may add 2-3 tbsp cornflour slurry to thicken.

7. Garnish with some fresh basil leaves and serve hot. It goes well with steamed rice or Thai Fried Rice.

Notes & Tips:

1. To make cornflour slurry, mix 1 tbsp cornflour with 2 tbsp cold water stirring to avoid all lumps. Use the smooth mixture as required.

2. Lime Leaves, lemon grass and basil are core ingredients hence make sure you use them. Availability of lime leaves could be an issue, then increase the quantity of lemon grass. 

3. I have used Dabur's coconut milk. You can use the fresh coconut milk as well. 

4. I did not add any oil while grinding the curry paste to make it less oily and it did not make any difference to the taste.

5. I directly added all the vegetables after frying the curry paste. Alternatively, all the veggies mentioned can be deep fried, drained and added after step 6. I find this too oily & unhealthy so prefer adding them raw. 

6. My Jain friends can omit garlic & onions in the curry paste and increase the amount of coriander to 3/4 cup. Adjust the lemon grass & basil flavours accordingly and proceed. As for the veggies, use as per your preference.