In the mood for some Thai?

I love thai red curry with some steamed rice..it is heaven. Haven't yet tried the yellow or green Thai curries. Will do sometime soon.

I am a lazy bum..most of you know that(those who didn't, now you know). If there is a way with a short cut, I will do it. So also with this recipe, I don't make the curry paste. I have a box of ready made curry paste, also don't bother extracting coconut milk..cartons or dehydrated powders to the rescue. There are several traditionalists who believe that everything done from a scratch gives you the best taste..I fully agree, so the next time you make something from a scratch, call me..I'll come over for a bite...As for me..I still love my shortcuts!

I had been over to Pune, to meet my in-law cousins..and there is a very famous shop over there..Dorabjee's. Went hunting there for some herbs, sauces and brought the Pantai Red Curry paste . Its superb. I've had no complaints so far...

Whenever H comes home grinning having spotted a perfect packet of white mushrooms, I know next day it is going to be Thai Red Curry with rice. And he slurps over every last bit of gravy...

If you have the short-cuts ready, this dish is ready in flat 15 mins..no more...

I'm giving you a recipe for Red curry paste for the ones who love making it at home..(its from a nita-mehta book..I've tried it once!)

Thai Red Curry

For the red curry paste

4-5 Kashmiri Red chillies - soaked in 1/2 cup of warm water for 10 min
1/2 onion - chopped
8-10 garlic flakes - peeled
1 1/2 slice ginger - sliced
1 stalk lemon grass or rind of 1 lemon
3-5 stalks of coriander
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin
6 peppercorns
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vinegar

Vegetables
6-8 babycorn - slit lengthwise
1 medium broccoli- cut into florets
5-6 mushrooms - sliced
1/2 red, yellow, green capsicum - cubed 1"
2 small brinjals - sliced (optional)

Other ingredients
3 cups coconut milk mixed with 1 Tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp soya sauce
10 basil leaves - chopped or use coriander leaves
salt to taste
1/2 tsp brown sugar/ regular sugar

Method
Grind all the ingredients of the red curry paste along with the water in which you've soaked red
chillies. Grind it to as fine paste as you can.

1. Heat a non-stick pan, add about 1Tbsp oil, add the paste, fry for a few seconds on low heat.
( you can make this oil-free by omitting the oil and adding the paste straight into the pan..no difference in taste). Since I use the ready-made paste, I add about 2 Tbsp of the paste..I like it a bit on the hotter side..

2. Add 3-4 Tbsp of coconut milk (can use fresh coconut milk, straight from the carton or mix water and dried coconut powder-Maggi). Add vegetables and cook for 3-4 minutes.

(Love the green color of broccoli in this...and the crunch..yumm..Thank God broccoli is cheap now.)

3. Add the rest of the coconut milk, soya sauce, chopped basil leaves.

4. Cover and simmer on low heat for 5-8 min, till the vegetable are tender (Do not over cook them, they should still have a crunch)

5. Add salt and sugar to taste. Bring to a boil, let it boil for 1-2 min. Take off the heat and serve hot with steamed rice.



These days, this recipe is not so frequent. With the temperatures hitting the 40C mark, its tough to work in the kitchen. So most days food is something cold- Curd Rice, Dahi Vada - which I learnt from Arundati's..made in an appam patra..sometimes its cold pani-puri..some cold salads..

Still searching for some cold foods to make.