Thai Vegetable Green Curry

It’s one of my most favorite recipes today – Thai Green Curry. I love anything Thai or Chinese. Although most of the dishes that I do are adapted to our taste buds and are a bit Indianised, I do love them a lot. This recipe is my version and I have made some substitutions for couple of ingredients that I couldn’t find in our locality. The flavour combination of this curry was so awesome and I am sure I will do this more often in my kitchen. I couldn’t find Kaffir Lime leaves or any lime leaves for that matter, on the day I was going to prepare this Thai Green Curry. Also, Galangal was not even heard of here. I ended up using a lime to replace the flavour and fragrance. Ordinary Indian ginger was used in the place of Galangal. Luckily I did find Lemon Grass in our super market and that added much needed freshness to this dish.

This is a vegetarian version of Thai Green Curry – something that is light, fresh and quite flavorful. I served it with some basmati rice lightly spiced with green chillies, onions, cloves, bay leaf and cardamom. The Thai Green Curry bowl was super yumm and I finished it in no time 🙂 I am more than enthused to try Thai Red Curry now 🙂

To make Thai Vegetable Green Curry

Servings: 4
Time: 40 mins
Difficulty: Medium
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What I used –

For the Thai Green Curry Paste –

Lemon Grass Strands, a handful
Garlic Pods, 8-10
Ginger Piece, 2 inch
Green Chillies, 4-5
Fresh Coriander Leaves, ½ cup packed
Chopped Onions, 1 cup or less
Ground Cumin, 1.5 tsp
Ground Coriander Seeds, 1 tbsp
Brown Sugar, 1 tbsp
Lime Wedge, a small piece (along with the skin)

For the Thai Green Curry –

Green Zucchini, 1 large
Baby Corn, 10-12
Mushrooms, 200 gms (10-12)
Oil, 1 tbsp
Bay Leaf, 1
Lime Juice, 1.5 tbsp
Thick Coconut Milk,5 cups
Salt, as required
Fresh Basil Leaves, a few

How I made –

1. In a blender, add all the ingredients under the Thai Green Curry Paste and grind into a smooth paste. If required, few tablespoon of water can be added.

prep1

2. In a nonstick pan, heat oil. Add the bay leaf, fry for ten secs. Add the ground Thai Green Curry Paste and stir well. After 4-5 mins, the paste would be cooked and oil leaving from the sides. prep2

3. Add the chopped vegetables and fry along with the paste for 1-2 mins on low or medium flame. Pour some water until the vegetables are covered. Add the required salt and the lime juice. Keep it closed and cook for 7-10mins on low flame until the vegetables are cooked. prep3-1

4. Add the thick coconut milk and mix well. As the curry comes to a boil, switch off the heat. Top the curry with some fresh basil leaves. prep4

5. To serve as Thai Green Curry Bowl, place the fragrant rice (either basmati or jasmine) on one side of the bowl and pour the Thai Green Curry on the other side. Top with some fresh Basil leaves. Serve hot!

Note –

Adjust the spice levels as per your preference.
The bay leaf in the gravy can be substituted with kaffir lime leaf if available. Similarly, ginger can be substituted with galangal or Thai ginger.
To make coconut milk at home, add 1.5 cups of warm water to 1 cup of fresh coconut and blend until smooth. Strain the coconut from the milk – thick coconut milk would be ready. Alternatively, one can use packaged coconut milk as well.
Additional to the added vegetables, other vegetables like Broccoli, colored bell peppers, baby carrots can be used too.
Do not boil the curry too much after adding the coconut milk – it can curdle easily.
Always cook the curry on low flame.
Make sure that the vegetables have a crunch to them – especially zucchini. When too overcooked, they become mushy and tasteless.