For the longest time, I debated on whether to share this recipe. After all, this is not your good looking Thai Red Curry or Green Curry. It's in fact, a very boring shade of brown. But then, this is brown for a reason. The red color in the traditional curry comes from a mix of dried red and fresh bird eye chillis. If you are a chilli wimp like me, the brown curry is the one for you. It's got all the flavour of the red curry but much, much less heat. This version's also adapted for my vegetarian tastes, and has no fish sauce or shrimp paste. So go ahead, make this piping hot bowl of comfort for a rainy day lunch.
Ingredients
For spice paste
1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted on a dry pan
1lemongrass stalk, without the woody end - finely chopped
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
1 inch piece of galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 kaffir lime leaves
2-3 cilantro stems, roughly chopped (don't use the leaves)
2 bird eye chillis
1 tsp non-spicy chilli powder (called kashmiri lal mirch in India) - can substitute with chipotle
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
For the curry
1 tbsp sesame oil
100 ml coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetables of your choice, chopped into bite sized pieces. I used a mix of zucchini, babycorn, thai brinjal and mushroom
Now the list above looks daunting but once you have prepped everything as mentioned, this is super easy. Pop everything for the spice paste in a grinder and blend to as fine a paste as you can get. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and fry the spice paste until completely dry. Add the chopped vegetables and stir for 2-3 minutes until the spice paste coats the veggies well. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water. Mix, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook until the curry is of a consistency you like. I keep it quite soupy but really, make it as thick as you want. At this point, check for seasoning - we haven't added any salt so far because there is usually enough in soy sauce but add more if you need it.
Serve the curry with steamed rice. To add an extra texture, you can top your curry with something crispy. I used fried shallots but crushed peanuts work equally well. A dash of lime is also a very good idea to balance out the flavours.
1 tbsp sesame oil
100 ml coconut milk
1/2 cup vegetables of your choice, chopped into bite sized pieces. I used a mix of zucchini, babycorn, thai brinjal and mushroom
Now the list above looks daunting but once you have prepped everything as mentioned, this is super easy. Pop everything for the spice paste in a grinder and blend to as fine a paste as you can get. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan and fry the spice paste until completely dry. Add the chopped vegetables and stir for 2-3 minutes until the spice paste coats the veggies well. Add the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water. Mix, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook until the curry is of a consistency you like. I keep it quite soupy but really, make it as thick as you want. At this point, check for seasoning - we haven't added any salt so far because there is usually enough in soy sauce but add more if you need it.
Serve the curry with steamed rice. To add an extra texture, you can top your curry with something crispy. I used fried shallots but crushed peanuts work equally well. A dash of lime is also a very good idea to balance out the flavours.
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