Thai Yellow Curry with Roasted Veg
When I first made Thai curries (it was in Thailand in Chiang Mai at a cookery school) I was shocked at how quick they were to made. There was no simmering for hours or stewing things. You go from starting to cook to eating your curry in less than 10 minutes!
This version of a Thai curry is slightly different. Firstly, it’s vegetarian - proper green and red curry pastes contain scrimp paste so aren’t, whereas yellow curry paste doesn’t - and secondly, it contains lots of vegetables that need a bit of cooking beforehand. So, actually, it’ll take longer than 10 minutes to make. Pre-roasted vegetables in an oven is not a traditional Thai thing to do - but it’s what I do for this recipe and it works!
But just remember, that if you have some random roasted veg at the back of your fridge that need using up, why not spend 5 minutes transforming them into a delicious Thai curry.
So here are my top 5 Thai curry tips:
Buy a quality curry paste. I use the Mae Ploy brand.
Fry off the paste in the coconut cream first. I don’t know what it does but it really works.
Be flexible, use whatever fish / meat and vegetables you have to hand
At the end, check and adjust the seasoning. This is the most important thing to do! Add lime juice to make it more sour. Add soy sauce or fish sauce to make it more salty and add palm sugar to make it sweeter. When you get the balance right, suddenly all the flavours will sing!!
If it’s too spicy you can add more coconut milk, and if it’s not spicy enough you can fry off more curry paste and add this but it’s a bit of a faff - I just live with it and write down how much curry paste to add next time. Write it down on the curry paste pot. Otherwise you’ll never remember.
Serves 2-4
2 tablespoons of Thai yellow curry paste
1 x 400ml can coconut milk (don’t shake it – you want the cream separated)
300g waxy potatoes, cut into 2-3cm chunks (Pink fir apple potatoes are the best for this!)
4 shallots, peeled and halved
300g courgette, cut into 2-3cm chunks
a large handful of mange tout or sugar snaps
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce, (or fish sauce)
1-2 teaspoons palm sugar (to taste)
Juice of ½ lime (to taste)
A handful of Thai basil
Put the potatoes and shallots in a baking tray with a splash of sunflower oil and a little salt. Roast in an oven at 180*C for 20 minutes until the potatoes are just tender. Leave to one side. You can do this well in advance of making your curry.
Scoop out a couple of tablespoons of the coconut cream on top of the coconut milk from the tin and add to a heavy bottomed wok over a high heat. Fry until you can see the oil separating out of the cream. If the cream isn’t very thick, you can add a tablespoon of sunflower oil to help it along.
Add the curry paste, fry for about 1 minute, stirring the whole time. You should be able to smell the spices and aromatics in the paste.
Add the coconut milk and bring to the boil. (You can wash out the can with a little water and add that in too).
Add in the roasted shallots and potatoes and raw courgettes and bring back to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables.
Add the mange tout, then turn off the heat a minute or two later.
Add the soy sauce, palm sugar and lime juice to taste. Add a little and taste and then keep tasting until the balance is just right.
Stir in the basil, keeping a few leaves back to garnish.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice and garnish with basil and calendula leaves.
Random cheffy tip! Push your jasmine rice into a teacup then turn it out onto your plate or bowl for extra fanciness.
