My mother, being vegan, has been on at me since I started my blog to put up some vegan/vegetarian friendly recipes up so I thought I’d start with a non meat version of perhaps the most famous Thai dish worldwide – the Thai green curry.
Thai green curry is usually made with chicken or sometimes beef here in Bangkok but I’m substituting the meat for big slices of butternut squash, or pumpkin as it’s known in Thailand.
The recipe calls for 10 long green chillies, which in my opinion aren’t very spicy but if you’re worried, then deseed them before you blitz them and they’ll be about as spicy as a green pepper!
I’m using globe aubergines but you can use any type you want. There are some really interesting types in the UK at the moment, like graffiti aubergines that can give your finished dish a great look.
The recipe should feed 6 and the reason I’m making it so big is so you can use up all the paste you make in one go. If you don’t have 6 people to feed then just freeze the rest for a later date. The curry should take 15 minutes from start to finish so there are no excuses – get cooking now!
Here’s a quick video below to show you how easy it is:
- 1 large butternut squash or any type of squash/pumpkin sliced
- 10 globe aubergines halved
- 1 handful of pea aubergines
- 10 long green chillies deseed if you don't want it spicy
- 3 small shallots or one small red onion
- 3 stalks of lemongrass tough outer layers removed, bashed with the back of a knife or a rolling pin and roughly chopped
- 2 thumb sized pieces of galangal roughly chopped
- 1 bulb of garlic cloves peeled
- 2 whole Coriander roots or 5 stems roughly chopped
- 650 mls of coconut milk
- 1 bunch of Thai basil leaves picked
- 2 tsp of palm sugar or brown sugar
- 500 mls of water or stock
- 2 tsp of Maldon sea salt
- 2 long red chillies sliced for garnish
- Put the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan and toast until fragrant. Grind to a fine powder in a pestle and mortar.
- Put the shallots, lemongrass, chilli, garlic, galangal, lime zest, salt, coriander roots, cumin and coriander into a blender with 400 ml of coconut milk and blitz to a fine, wet paste.
- Pour the paste into a large wok or saucepan and fry over a high heat. It will spit a bit at first so keep stirring. It will start to settle and thicken up and the oil will start to seperate from the paste. The colour will change to a deeper green colour.
- Chuck in the globe and pea aubergines, the rest of the coconut milk, the water and the sugar and cook on high for 4-5 minutes.
- Chuck in the squash and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Check for seasoning, adding a bit more salt/sugar if needed. Turn off the heat and throw in the Thai basil, saving a few leaves for garnish.
- Serve in bowls topped with fresh red chilli and some more basil. This goes perfectly with either steamed rice or rice noodles.
