Vietnamese Curry & Basil Rice

I think I have a soft corner for South-East Asian (especially Chinese) and Italian food. My first experience with Vietnamese food was when my Vietnamese classmates made vegetarian Nems (Rice-paper Spring Rolls) amongst a few other things.Then, fried Nems at one of the house parties hosted by mom. And then, recently when my cousin who also likes cooking was talking about Vietnamese curry.. which really caught me and I started searching for it.

Obviously, most of the recipes I found were with meat or seafood. And tofu. I am not a great fan of tofu except for silken tofu in Japanese Miso Soup!

After several days of browsing, I finally made my version of this curry earlier this week.

Vietnamese Cuisine in many ways is similar to Thai. Though I feel Thai Cuisine is robust in terms of flavours and foods, whereas Vietnamese Cuisine is an emulation & adaptation of its neighbouring regions. Like Thailand, they use a lot of sea-food too. They are known for the dog meat delicacy that is served in festivals! And, of course their coffee. Decent I'd say!

Honestly, this curry is quite similar to the Yellow Thai Curry because it uses coconut milk as one of the main flavours. But, the vegetables and preparation I'd say is a lot less fussier than Thai Curry unless you stock curry paste. Besides this is a very good option for low fat meal because it is entirely optional to use oil!

Yes.. It tastes the same without oil!!

I served it with simple basil rice. Basil was subtle yet fragrant. I had it handy so I used it. It can be served plain.

You can use whatever vegetables suit your palate..! After all, what's the point in cooking up something if it doesn't have foods you like to eat!

So here it is:

Serves: 2 - 3. Preparation Time: 10 mins. Cooking Time: 15 - 20 mins.

Ingredients

For Vietnamese Curry:
½ cup red onion, diced (1 medium sized)
¼ cup tomato, diced (1 small)
½ cup carrots, sliced (1 small)
1 cup button mushrooms, quartered (6-7 mushrooms)
1 cup potatoes, diced (2 medium sized)
1 cup coloured belled peppers, diced (red, green, yellow)
1 heaping tbsp chopped ginger
1 heaping tbsp chopped garlic
1 cup coconut milk
2 - 3 cups water
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp curry powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp turmeric/haldi powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp sugar (optional)
½ cup lemon grass extract*
1 tbsp olive oil (optional)
salt as per taste

For Basil Rice:
1 cup rice (I used regular basmati, it goes well with other starchy rice, brown rice, thai rice)
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
3-4 basil leaves

Method:

For Curry:

1. Heat oil in a deep pot. Add bay leaf, onions, ginger & garlic. Sauté for 30 seconds.

2. Add mushrooms, capsicums and sauté for a minute.

3. Then add, tomatoes, potatoes & carrots. Add salt, 2 cups water, ¾ of coconut milk and lemon grass extract. (I also used lemon grass paste as a bouquet garni)

If not using oil, just add everything under steps 1, 2, & 3 and simmer.

4. Add curry powder, sugar, turmeric, red chilli powder.

5. Let this all simmer on low flame until all the vegetables are cooked. It will take about 10-15 mins.

6. Check for taste. The curry will be slightly watery so mix the cornflour in balance ¼ cup coconut milk, and add to the curry. It will thicken.

7. Put it off heat. Serve.  Yes its that simple!

Garnish with spring onion greens, mint or whatever is handy..!

* Take 3-5 stalks of lemon grass and ½ cup water and blend them into as smooth a purée as possible.

Strain it using a fine sieve. All that remains in the sieve, tie it into a bouquet-garni and drop in the curry till cooked. Squeeze and remove it once the curry is ready.

For Basil Rice:

1. Thoroughly wash the rice.

2.  Boil 2 cups water with salt.

3. Now add basil and the rice and let it cook for 10-15 minutes.

Notes & Tips:

1. If you do not have store bought curry powder handy, just mix in 1 tbsp of coriander-cumin seed/dhania-jeera powder with 2 tbsp sambhar masala. I did the same.

2. You can add broccoli and tofu. They lend a different flavour to the mix. Whatever vegetables you choose, do not omit tomatoes & potatoes.

3. For Jains:

• If using oil, sauté bay leaf & ginger.
• Add vegetables (bottle gourd, tomatoes, carrots (if using), peas, beans, bellpeppers, babaycorn, cabbage, etc), water, cocnut milk, lemongrass extract and spices.
• Follow step 4 onwards.

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.