Home cooked vegetarian food recipe - Vegetarian Thai Red, Green & Yellow Curry Paste

Basic ingredients for curry paste -

According to your taste, you may alter each ingredient more or less.

2-3 inches ginger, 2-3 inches galangal, 4 stalks lemon grass (use only 3 inches long from the root), 3-4 cloves garlic, 8 shallots, a bunch of Thai basil leaves, 1 heap teaspoon coriander seeds (toasted), 1 heap teaspoon black pepper

Salt to taste

For Red Curry Paste

Add a few fresh small red chillies or dried chillies (soaked and deseed), 1 teaspoon red chilly powder, half teaspoon cumin seeds (toasted) into the basic ingredients

For Green Curry Paste

Add a few fresh small green chillies, a few lime leaves, a bunch of fresh coriander, half teaspoon cumin seeds (toasted) into the basic ingredients

For Yellow Curry Paste

Add a few fresh small red or green chillies, a few lime leaves, 1 heap teaspoon turmeric powder into the basic ingredients

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Grind everything into a paste.

Add about 2 tablespoons oil in the wok at low-medium heat, add in the paste with 1 heap teaspoon salt. Stir well for about 10-15 minutes until fragrant and thickens.

Let it cool down and keep in an airtight jar, either use them fresh, or keep in the fridge for about 1 week, or freeze them for later use.

Home cooked vegetarian food recipe - Vegetarian Green Curry

Here is another vegetarian dish that sometimes we prepare for our yoga retreat guests in Langkawi.

Vegetarian Green Curry (serves 4 people)

1 small size cauliflower cut into big pieces (this will keep the crunchiness of the cauliflower after cooked)

About 200 grams of long beans cut into about 1 inch size

About 15 fresh baby sweet corns (halved)

2 pieces of hard tofu cut into cubes

Half of a carrot (peeled) cut into strips of about the similar size of the cut long beans

8-10 cherry tomatoes

About 12 sweet peas

2 cups of coconut milk

About 30 curry leaves

3-4 stalks of lemon grass, lightly pounded

3-4 pieces of  kaffir lime leaves crushed with the hand

Salt to taste

A bit of cooking oil

To grind into paste -
4-5 stalks of lemon grass (use only the first 2 inches from the root)
about 3-4 shallots
about 1-2 cloves of garlic (optional if you do not like garlic)
about 2 inches cube of ginger
about 2 inches cube of galangal
about 2-3 big green chillies deseeded
about 2-3 small green chillies deseeded (optional, it depends on how spicy you prefer)
2-3 kaffir lime leaves (remove the stem of the leaves)
a bit of water for mixing

x x x x x x x x x x x x

Important tips - Never cover with lid, as the vegetable will loose its crunchiness. Unless you prefer soft vegetables for easier digestion.

Heat up the wok, add a bit of cooking oil. When the oil is hot enough at low heat, add in curry leaves for a few seconds and then the ground paste and the stalks of lemon grass, stir evenly until the paste thickened and fragrant. This will take a bit of time and patience.

Turn the heat up to medium.

Add in tofu and stir evenly. Sprinkle a bit of salt onto the tofu.

Add in baby sweet corns and stir evenly.

Add coconut milk. Add a bit of salt to taste. Turn the heat up to maximum. Stir evenly until boiling. Add crushed kaffir lime leaves.

Add cauliflower and carrots, stir evenly. After 1 minute, add the long beans and cherry tomatoes and cook for another 1 minute, stir evenly.

Switch off the fire, and immediately add in the sweet peas. Stir evenly.

Add salt to taste if needed.

Serve immediately, or else the vegetables will become soggy.

It is very nice to eat with Basmati rice.

Also it is very nice to have some raw Sengkuang or Yam Bean (remove the skin and cut into sticks) as a side dish. It helps to balance the spiciness of the chillies and the richness of the coconut milk.

Bon Appétit!