Back in Bangalore, we had quite a few restaurants serving really awesome Thai food, but here, I have had it at two places where they had added besan / chickpea flour for thickening the dish - it was a disaster. I prefer my home cooked Thai food now !
This may not be considered authentic enough, because it doesn't have galangal or kaffir lime leaves, but if you crave Thai curry and you don't have access to these ingredients, this is as good as the real deal...
A nice, flavourful Thai green curry can easily be made with these ingredients which are quite common in any Indian kitchen.
Thai Green Curry with Pineapple basil rice
Recipe Source
For the curry - Adapted from Neeta Mehta's Thai Vegetarian Cooking
For the rice - A good friend in Bangalore
What you need -
3-4 small eggplants
1 large red pepper / capsicum
(You can also use mushrooms, green peppers and yellow peppers)
1.5 cups thick coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1-2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
3-4 stalks of lemon grass
For the curry paste:
1/2 onion chopped
5-6 green chillies
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 piece ginger / galangal (if you find it)
1 tbsp lemon juice
rind of 1 lemon
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 cup fresh basil leaves / 1/2 cup coriander leaves
(I used 1/2 cup coriander leaves and 1/2 cup basil leaves)
Pineapple Basil Rice -
1.5 cups basmati rice
2-3 slices of pineapple (canned or fresh)
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 leaves fresh basil
What you do with it -
For the curry paste :
Roast the cumin and coriander seeds till fragrant
Add all the ingredients listed under 'curry paste' and grind to a fine paste using a little water
For the rice :
Clean the rice and soak in water for 10 mins
Cut the pineapple slices into bite size pieces
Tear the basil leaves
Chop the garlic into thin slices
In a large pot, add 3 cups of water and bring to boil, add the rice, garlic, basil, pineapple and salt and cook till done
Add a drop or two of sesame oil, so the rice doesn't get too sticky
You could also put all the ingredients with the water into a rice cooker and cook till done
For the curry :
Clean and chop the eggplants and the peppers and the mushrooms, if using
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large deep bottomed pan and add the curry paste and fry for 2-3 mins. Keep it on a low flame, or the paste might splatter
Add the vegetables and fry for another 3-4 mins
Break the lemon grass stalks into 2-3 pieces and add to the pan
Add the salt, sugar and soy sauce
Dilute the thick coconut milk with water and add to the pan
Allow to simmer till the vegetables are just cooked. Don't let the vegetables get too soft or mushy
Take out the lemon grass stalks from the curry before you serve
Serve hot with pineapple basil rice
Want some other Thai dishes ? Check here, here and here
5 comments:
Delicious curry & goes perfect with the pineapple rice..Makes an awesome meal!!
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
Ewww - besan??? thats the worse than the cornflour based one I ate in Delhi - luckily there are many other places here which do a decent curry. But seriously, once you eat the real deal, you can't go back! The fresh flavours of the herbs and spices they use in Asia are unmatched...your curry looks so creamy!
luckily we have some good places serving authentic Thai food. besan would be the last thing that I would expect in some Thai curry but that's Indianising at its best.
love your spice paste. I also dont get kaffir lime leaves here so just add lime leaves from my potted plant.
Did I hear besan. I would have the same reaction as Miri - ewww! some things you just dont mix and its sad that sometimes restaurants dont know that. This curry can beat any Thai restaurant curries Ive had here. Good job! :)
first time here and great space. Loved this combo of Thai green curry and rice is really interesting
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