Thai Green Curry (Vegetarian) with Jasmine Rice

For a foodie, who is a Vegetarian, eating out is sometimes difficult. If he/she wants to savor Thai cuisine, for instance, it is tough to find a restaurant serving curries that do not contain fish oil. I am faced with a similar problem when I crave for Oriental cuisine. So, one fine day, I decided to make a 100% vegetarian Thai Green Curry at home. It took me several rounds to the supermarket to procure the ingredients, and it took me quite a bit of permutations and combinations to get the taste right, But the final outcome made me smile, because all the efforts had been worth it! I served the Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice. That was another difficult part. The supermarket that I went to did not have Jasmine Rice in stock. So I dared being little innovative and cooked the rice in Jasmine Tea. The color did become a little brownish, but who cares! Because the flavor and fragrance of the Jasmine Rice I had cooked was simply divine! Here’s the recipe for you:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup tofu (cut into cubes)
1 potato (cubed)
1 capsicum (cubed)
2 carrots (peeled and diced)
1 head cauliflower (cut into florets)
10-12 french beans (trimmed and halved)
1/2 cup fresh basil (roughly chopped)
2 kaffir lime leaves (finely chopped) (Can be substituted with 1 bay leaf)
100 ml coconut milk
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoon oil

FOR GREEN CURRY PASTE:

1 small onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1-inch piece galangal (thinly sliced) (Can be substituted with ginger)
2 kaffir lime leaves (chopped) (Can be substituted with 1 tablespoon lime juice)
1 cup coriander leaves (chopped)
1/4 cup thai basil leaves (roughly torn)
3 tablespoon lemongrass (minced)
1 green chili (minced)
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt (to taste)

FOR JASMINE RICE:

250 grams long grain rice
2 tea bags jasmine tea
200 ml water
Salt (a pinch)

RECIPE:

To make the green curry paste, put all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Add 3-4 tablespoons of coconut milk to make a fine paste.

Blanch all the vegetables except capsicum in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. Retain  the stock

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the prepared paste and stir for a minute. Gradually add the remaining coconut milk and mix well. Add tofu and stir. Now add kaffir lime leaves and mix it in. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Now add the blanched vegetables and capsicum and stir well. Add 50 ml vegetable stock and cook covered for another five minutes.

Remove the lid, add the dark soy sauce and mix well. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with roughly chopped fresh basil leaves.

To prepare Jasmine Rice, wash and soak the rice for half an hour. Pour hot water over the tea bags in a bowl and leave aside for 10 minutes. Discard the tea bags and add rice to the water with a pinch of salt. Microwave for 10-12 minutes or till rice is cooked.

Serve hot with Veg Thai Green Curry.

Eat, drink and be merry! 🙂