My husband and I are happy foodies and we keep making detailed plans where and which restaurants to hop and explore. Round the corner special occasions can just double our intentions or else we just make it special…simple.

So it was on our first wedding anniversary that we happened to visit a Thai restaurant and I have to admit that I was blown away with the mild yet overly perfect subtlety of all flavors immersed in the natural bliss of coconut milk. It has been since then that this has been my listed favorite veg/vegan gravy recipes of all time.

Not only is it healthy, delicious and an open scope to add all that your heart wants, it is time saving and a sure hit for parties (specially when you have friends coming over who do not consider vegetarian or vegan items as delicious and just consider them as difficult items to prepared. This is a totally ‘turn around of opinions’ dish.)

So coming down to the preparation story, I am a free bird when it comes to adding as many veggies as I have in my stock and evade limitations as much as possible. 🙂

For my version of this personalized and bountiful Thai Curry, here below is :

The veggie list:

• a medium sized onion diced into chunky pieces
• 8-10 baby carrots
• chopped cabbage leaves (no cabbage at home, chop up some lettuce leaves. Afterall the best outcomes arise with innovations 😉 )
• 6-7 chopped mushrooms
• diced pieces of cucumber (say half of it)
• some chopped pieces of pineapple
• some broccoli florets
• half of a capsicum, diced
• a cup of frozen mixed veggies
• 8-10 pieces of Tofu (drained, cut into small cubes and mildly pan fried)

For preparing the gravy:

• 2 1/2 tbsp of the Red Thai paste ( you may choose the red or the green as per your preference. I love both of them)

• Half a can of coconut milk
• and 1 cup of water

From the Spice Rack:

• Salt 
• and Sugar as per seasoning
• pepper just to add some flavour
• 1 tbsp of olive or regular cooking oil

To begin cooking:

• Heat oil in your pan. Add the Thai curry paste to the hot oil and stir in.
• Mildly fry the onions first in the paste and gradually start adding the vegetables one by one with the mushrooms being the last one to go in. This will prevent them from over cooking.
• Now mix all the veggies well such that the curry paste coats them well enough to allow its flavors to get into them.
• In a bowl pour the coconut milk and water and stir.
• Add this mixture to the vegetables to make the gravy. If you want a thicker gravy, you can add a tsp of cornflour to 1/2 cup of water and add this mixture into the gravy. I generally prefer a  moderately thick curry.
• Its now time to add the drained and pan fried tofu cubes in the gravy. Add your seasoning of salt, sugar and a pinch of pepper and cover the lid and allow to cook on low -medium heat for another 10-12 minutes and you will just know when you are done.
• In the end, squeeze and add a tsp of lime juice and your ready to garnish and serve this superbly healthy, all veggie, customized Thai curry.

Serve it with hot plain, basmati or jasmine rice to woo over friends who believe that vegetarian or vegan friendly food is all boring. And for you, you needn’t hit the restaurant each time you run out of time or crave for a Thai curry dish.

This has been the third time in a row that the bowl has been almost swiped off clean by my guests and nothing could have made me happier. 🙂

 

 

P.S: I am an Indian and this may not be the perfectly authentic Thai curry, but surely food is tastier when you add your passion, love and instincts into it and you can take my word for that. 🙂