New discovery (for us anyway!): Thai food is a great option for entertaining. Everyone loves it and you can temper the spiciness by leaving the chillies on the side. We always make big batches of Thai curries that last the two of us days so it seemed sensible to share the wealth when guests were over. This curry recipe in particular is vegan so invite those veggie-loving friends over for a flavour explosion!
What we're aiming for: Sharing bowl of all-veggie curry for 4 people paired with a lovely aromatic rice
The Components:
For the curry:
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
4 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
4 teaspoons finely chopped lemongrass
4 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
4 tablespoons oil (we like to use groundnut oil or sunflower)
1 (14fl oz) can of coconut milk
2 large sweet potatoes - peeled and chopped into bite size cubes
4 small-med sized regular potatoes - washed, chopped into bite size cubes (we like to leave the skin on but it's up to you)
4 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons curry powder
250ml (8fl oz) vegetable stock
450g (160z) small onions, halved
For garnish:
A bunch of coriander/cilantro, chopped up
3 large red chillies, chopped up
For the rice:
If making in a steamer, use a 1:1 ratio of rice to water. For this recipe, we used 2 cups of uncooked basmati rice and 2 cups of water
5 cloves (remember how many you put in as you'll have to remove them before serving)
½ stick of cinnamon
Sea salt - a few pinches
Olive oil - a few glugs
The Algorithm:
For the rice (40mins): The rice should take about 40-45 mins so plan the cooking of your curry accordingly. We usually put the rice in the steamer* to start cooking and then work on getting the ingredients together for the curry.
- Put all the ingredients into your steam cooker in the order listed above. - Cover, set the timer to 40mins and let it do its work. - When it’s all done, the cloves should have risen to the top and be easy to pick out. - Spoon the rice into a nice serving bowl, season with a bit of salt if needed, and present alongside the curry bowl so people can serve themselves.
*If you don't have a steam or rice cooker and are cooking it in a saucepan, just cook the rice as you normally do but change the ratio from 1 rice: 1 water to 1 rice: 2 water, add the listed ingredients in before bringing to the boil, cover and let cook as usual.
For the curry (10mins prep, 10 mins cooking): - In a mortar, pound the coriander seeds, ginger, lemongrass and garlic together to form a paste. - In a nice big saucepan, heat the oil and stir in the paste. - Immediately add the coconut milk. Stir briefly. - Add the potatoes, soy sauce, sugar, salt and curry powder. Stir well. - Bring to the boil and add the vegetable stock (it’s handy to use the stock to rinse out the leftover coconut milk in the can). - Return to the boil, add the onion halves and simmer until the potatoes are cooked al dente.
Once done, pop the entire mixture into a serving bowl, garnish with a few coriander leaves and gather round the table to serve!