New discovery (for us anyway!): Thai food is a great option for entertaining.
What we're aiming for:
Sharing bowl of all-veggie curry for 4 people paired with a lovely aromatic rice
Sharing bowl of all-veggie curry for 4 people paired with a lovely aromatic rice
The Components:
For the curry:
For garnish:
For the rice:
- 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!
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!
