Green Curry attempt

I have yet to make a green curry that is really spot-on, you know, as mind-blowingly wonderful as you might get in Thailand, but I have put together some good-to-eat ones: some using store-bought curry pastes and some where I've made a paste from scratch. I'll give you both options. The one I made in this photo was a quick whip-up using a ready-made paste. The products in the photos are not necessarily the best (I haven't done a thorough trial for you), they were prob chosen for being either the cheapest or the only version of that ingredient available. The curry paste I chose because it doesn't contain shrimp paste.
NB: This meal is vegan.

This meal serves 3 (I tried for 2 but failed again. Just add more or less of stuff - I just like to have a good selection of veggies)

Ingredients:

Either use a pre-made green curry paste (about 1 T per person) or use the curry paste recipe at the end of the recipe.

Select from whatever veggies you have - or buy some - and aim for about 3-4 large chunks of each type of vegetable (or more if you're only using a couple of different types of vegetable). Good ideas:

-eggplant (if you can find them use Thai 'apple' and 'pea' eggplants, otherwise the long finger-shaped ones are good but the big egg-shaped ones will do too if chopped into small pieces)
-green beans / snow peas/ etc
-broccoli florets (the little tree-shaped bits)
-baby yellow squash, halved or quartered
-mushrooms, quartered
-bamboo shoots
-asparagus, cut in half
-beansprouts (crunchy, waterburst Mungbean sprouts)

1x 400g tin coconut milk per 3-4 people
1-2 T palm sugar / jaggery (you'll need to cut up the blocks). You can also leave it out altogether if you want.
Thai basil leaves - 4 per person? (normal basil is ok if you can't find the Thai sort - but Thai basil does have a distinct flavour).
tofu puffs (about 3-4 per person), chopped in half
light soy sauce to taste (optional)
fresh lime juice to taste (optional)



So, all you do is:

Get your rice on in a rice cooker (these are such good inventions!). Get out 2 bowls per person - one for the rice and one for the curry.

Heat a large saucepan, add the green curry paste. Remember to stir it and watch it as you don't want curry paste burning - for one thing the fumes can get really irritating and make you cough. When the paste has lost most of its green colour, start adding the coconut milk, a bit at a time so the paste absorbs it with each addition. Bring to the boil then turn down to simmer.

Add the vegetables in order of how long they take to cook (to avoid over-cooking and losing their great textures and flavours)- eggplant first, then when eggplant is mostly cooked, add squash, then mushrooms, broccoli, lower parts of asparagus. Season with palm sugar (if using), stir in the Thai basil leaves. If you want a thinner curry, stir in some more water. Simmer a couple of minutes only.

Add snow peas, asparagus tips, then tofu puffs. Don't add the beansprouts. If you want to add some light soy sauce and lime juice, do this now.

When the curry is just about ready, dish up a bowl of rice per person. In the other bowl, put a handful of beansprouts, then laddle the curry on top. Garnish with Thai basil and strips of fresh chilli if you like.



Homemade Green Curry Paste
(makes enough for about 4 portions of curry)

Ingredients:
(chopped here means roughly chopped because you're going to blend it anyway)

4 spring onions, / 2 shallots /1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
Large handful of fresh coriander, including roots, chopped
3 lemongrass stalks, chopped
6 fresh long, thin green chillies (if you like it really hot, add a few birds-eye chillies too)
2.5cm/1" piece fresh root ginger, chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves, middle stem removed, chopped
1 " chopped piece galangal / 1 T minced - from a jar
2 t cumin seeds (powdered first if using blender)
2 t coriander seeds (powdered first if using blender)
1/4 t turmeric powder or, if you have it, 1/2 " piece fresh turmeric root
4 T light soy sauce
1 T lime juice
1 t sea salt
1 T sunflower oil
1-2 T water

Just whiz all the ingredients together in a blender. Add more water as needed to make a smooth paste. If you don't have a blender a mortar and pestle is even better but takes longer. Remember when using a mortar and pestle to add the hardest ingredients first, the softest last. Use coriander and cumin seeds instead of powder if you can.