Oh, how I love curries.
The combination of crispy vegetables with a fruity and spicy curry sauce not only tastes terrific, but it is also fully loaded with vitamins and minerals that are good for you. The spice of the curry on top of that can really make you sweat and has a cleansing effect.
Real Thai curry never gets prepared with curry powder, but with curry paste, called Kaeng in Thai. There are many authentic Curry pastes on the market, however not all of them are vegan. If you happen to find one of the Brand “Aroy-D” you are on the safe side.
Not only is a curry a really tasty dish, it also is very nutritious. Combined with rice, you have a good source of a full set of essential proteins, provided you add tofu and peas as well.
Ingredients
- for the crispy Tofu
- Veggies to be fried
- Veggies for the boiling phase
- For the tasty curry sauce
- Garnish
- And the rest for cooking
Instructions
- Preparing the tofu
- Rinse the tofu and put it onto a clean kitchen cloth. Wrap the tofu in the kitchen towel and put some weight on it. I recommend adding some bottles into a big pot and to fill the empty space with water. Let it rest for about 20 minutes.
- Put the tofu into a bowl and add the soy sauce, sesame oil and corn flour. Stir everything until no more liquid is in the bowl and the flour spots are gone. Transfer the tofu onto a parchment paper on a baking tray. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until brown at 180° with no preheating.
Preparing the veggies - Get 3 bowls for your three phases of cooking Dice an onion, 3 gloves (more or less) of garlic and a piece of ginger at the size of your thumb. Put it together in the first bowl Cut one red bell pepper in thin stripes and slice a carrot. Put them together in a second bowl. Cut the broccoli into small flowers. Get some nice mushrooms. Enoki are recommended, but Shitake or Champions as well work just fine. fill this stuff in the final bowl Cooking the rice
- Take a cup of basmati rice, put it into a small pot and wash it 3 times to remove the excess starch. Add one and a quarter cup of water and a bit of sesame oil. Put on the lid and start cooking on low heat. Don't forget to stir from time to time. After around 15-20 minutes most of the water should be absorbed by the rice. Give it a final stir and leave the lid open, so that the remaining water can steam out.
Frying your veggies - Get a wok and give a tablespoon of coconut oil into it. preheat it on high temperature. Add your onion, garlic and ginger from the first bowl into the oil. Stir a little to evenly distribute the oil. Let it fry for around one minute. Add the bell pepper and carrot to the wok. Mix and fry for around 3-4 minutes. meanwhile, move on to the preparation of the curry sauce. Prepare the curry sauce
- Get a cup and put a spoon of the curry paste into it. I recommend starting with a little and see if you can handle the spice. There is always opportunity to add more later. Shake the coconut milk well and then give some of it (only some) into the cup with the curry paste. Take a spoon or fork to dissolve the paste. Taste the sauce and add some more curry paste if needed. Cooking the curry
- Give your last bowl into the wok. Pour your curry and the remaining coconut milk over it. Mix. If the curry does not cover all veggies for boiling, it is absolutely fine to add a cup of water as well. Your curry will still keep its insanely good taste. Now let it sit and cook for around 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, squeeze the juice of one lime. We will add that at the end. Give a hand full of lime leaves into the curry. Also, now is a good time to add your crispy tofu. Let it cook a little in the wok, so that its crust can absorb some sauce. Finally, pour some frozen peas into the wok, if you like to. After 5 minutes the dish is cooked. Time to add the lime juice and turn off the cooker.
Prepare the plate - Give a good scoop of your curry into a clean bowl. Press some rice into a small bowl and toss it onto the curry. Cut some coriander and sprinkle it over your plate. Add some black sesame if you like.
Notes
Technically, most of the ingredients are exchangeable. You can swap any vegetable to one of your liking. However, it is recommended to keep the lime and the ginger in the dish. Those are, besides your curry paste and coconut milk, your main taste-drivers and should not be skipped.