Thai red curry

I love Thai curries, my absolute favorite is the green curry and my next favorite is red curry.  I made this red curry recipe with paneer instead of the usual tofu. I did look at various youtube videos to guide me and I found this particular video very helpful Red curry

Ingredients

Red curry paste (Thai kitchen brand is vegan)- 2-3 tbsp

Coconut milk (Thai kitchen brand full fat)- 1 can

Bell peppers ( yellow, green, red)- cut into strips -  1.5 cups

Bamboo shoots - small can- washed and drained- boil water and add the bamboo shoots to it and let it boil for 5 minutes and drain water and set aside

 

Other vegetables can be used as well - mushroom , carrot, broccoli etc 

Paneer / tofu cubes - sautéed in a pan until golden brown- 1 cup 

Soy sauce- 1 tbsp 

Onion- 1 medium cut into pieces 

Tomato paste / powder - 1 tbsp 

Ginger - a small piece shredded 

Garlic- 1 or 2 cloves minced

Lemon juice - 1 tsp 

Brown sugar - 1 tbsp 

Thai basil- a few leaves

Lemongrass- finely chopped - 1/2 tbsp

water

salt - to taste

cilantro fresh leaves- chopped

Instructions 

1. Place a deep saucepan on the stove on medium heat. Add 1/2 the coconut milk to the pan and stir it occasionally to ensure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Cook it until the edges start giving off oil.  The coconut milk thickens and there will be oil on it. We can use this oil to roast the other ingredients.
   
   
2. Add the red curry paste and saute it in.
   
   
3. Add tomato powder (paste) and saute it, add brown sugar and saute it.
4. Add the soy sauce and stir it in.
   
5. In a separate pot add a little oil and sauté the bamboo shoots, onions, peppers until the vegetables are cooked. Add ginger, garlic, lemongrass, thai basil and saute it. Add the paneer pieces sauté it. 
   
   
6. To the first pot with the red curry paste/ coconut milk mixture add the rest of the coconut milk and stir it in. Add water to the desired consistency of the curry
   
   
   
7. Now transfer the contents of pot #2 with the veggies and paneer to the first pot and stir it in.
   
     
8.  Turn down the heat and let it cook for 5-6 minutes.
9. Add a little bit of lemon juice once you turn off the heat and stir it in and add salt to taste.
10. Add chopped cilantro on top as a garnish.
11. Thai curry is now ready to serve with jasmine rice (cooking rice)
    
    
    

Palak paneer

Since the COVID pandemic started we haven’t been dining at restaurants and we have been cooking a lot more at home. I am going to start sharing my recipes here . I cook by taste and I tend to add things until they taste right ! This is how I was taught how to cook. I am going to try to add objective measurements and directions for people who follow this blog. 

Palak paneer is a spinach dish with cubes of paneer ( Indian cheese) . 

Ingredients

Frozen (well thawed) or fresh spinach ( cooked ) - 2 cups

Paneer ( cubes) - 2 cups - can get the pre cubed and fried frozen kind or you can get a block of paneer and then cube and fry them until golden brown in butter 

Cumin powder - 2 tsp 

Garam masala powder - 2 tsp 

Onion - 1 large chopped into small cubes

Tomato - 1 large chopped into cubes 

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp 

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp 

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

1 green chili - de seeded and chopped ( if you want it spicy you can use two chilies with the seeds )

Clove - 2 crushed 

Cream - 1/4 cup 

Salt - 1 tsp or to taste 

Butter or ghee- 2 to 3 tbsp for frying the paneer 

Oil- 2 to 3 tbsp 

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Take the spinach and purée it well in the blender and set aside 

If you have fresh paneer make it into medium sized cubes and fry it in the butter / ghee until golden brown and crispy on all sides and set aside 

Now in the pan put the oil and sauté onions until translucent and golden brown. 

Add ginger garlic paste and green chili and sauté it in with the onions. 

Add cumin powder, cloves, garam masala , chili powder, turmeric powder , salt and sauté in the oil. 

It is very important in Indian cooking to sauté the spices so it doesn't taste raw ( whcih is what most American restaurants do with curry powder- which gives it a raw bitter taste)

Once sautéed add the tomatoes and ensure they are cooked as well.

Add in the spinach purée and water (as needed to get the desired consistency of a gravy) and mix all the ingredients and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes ( spinach purée will have bubbles when it is hot). Make sure you stir once in a while to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning 

Add in the heavy cream and stir it in 

Now add in the paneer cubes and let cook for about 5 minutes on low heat. 

Now we are all done and ready to serve this with chapathi ( indian flat bread) or basmati rice. I have even used this as a filling this to make a palak paneer roll!

Vegetable kurma (korma)

 I love using whatever vegetables I have around for this korma.

Ingredients

Green beans - frozen ( thawed) or fresh cooked ( steamed )- 1 cup

1-2 cups of paneer cubes fried to golden brown in butter/ ghee ( clarified butter) kept aside - or use precut and fried frozen paneer ( thawed)

Mixed vegetables - I have used the frozen peas and carrots ( from walmart) or if I can't find it I use the mixed vegetable (the one with carrot, peas, Lima beans and corn)- thawed - 1 cup

Optional - cooked potato, cauliflower soft but not mushy

Optional - pineapple - sautéed

1 large onion - chopped

2 cups of tomato purée - can cut up fresh tomatoes and just purée it. If you have tomato paste you can dilute it 1 portion of the paste to 2 Portions of water to get a purée consistency

Soak 1/2 cup of cashews in hot water for about 30 minutes , drain and grind into a fine paste

ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Homemade masala - 1 tsp (sauté equal parts white poppy seed 2 tbsp and fennel 2 tbsp with tsp of cloves and grind into a fine powder and set aside)- optional since most of this is in the store bought garam masala ( next)

Garam masala - 1 tbsp

coriander powder - 1 tsp - optional

Cardamom - 2 to 3 pods crushed to release the seeds

Cinnamon stick - 1

Bay leaf - 2

Heavy cream/ whole milk / coconut milk - 1/2 cup - you can use choose one of these but do not use all of these

Cashews and golden raisins - sautéed in butter until golden brown and set aside for garnishing

Oil and or butter for sautéing

Salt - 1 to 2 tsp ( to taste )

Directions:

1. Put 2-3 tbsps of oil or butter in a hot pan. Add the chopped onions and sauté until golden brown and translucent
2. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté it
3. Add the spices - and sauté them - turmeric powder , chili powder, homemade masala , garam masala, coriander powder, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick , bay leaves and roast them ( make sure they don't burn)
4. Add the tomato purée and mix it in well and let it cook until it starts bubbling up . If it gets thick add water for gravy like consistency
5. Add the cashew paste into the the kurma and stir it in
6. Add the fried paneer , cooked/ thawed vegetables to the gravy and let them cook for about 10 minutes on low heat so they can soak in the kurma flavor
7. Add in the roasted cashews and raisins and optional pineapple and stir it in
8. Finally add in the cream ( or substitutes) and mix well , cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes
9. pull out the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick before serving ( these can be choking hazards)
10. Vegetable kurma is ready to serve with chapathi , basmati rice or it can be served in a chapathi or tortillla as a wrap or it can be served on toasted bread as a indian ' sloppy joe '
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. North Indian Navratna korma is prepared similarly but tomato purée is not used and in its place one can use more cream/ milk and perhaps some yogurt for the same tanginess. Also when making the cashew paste, almonds (1/2 cup)and white poppy seed ( 2 tbsp) is also soaked as well and ground up with the cashews into a paste

Avial - South Indian vegetable and coconut curry

 This is a South Indian curry that you can eat with rice or can eat as a side dish with Adai.

Ingredients

Vegetables- 3 cups total

I usually use:

Carrot - 1 large cut into small 2 inch strips

Potato- 1 large cut into small 2 inch strips

Green Beans - 15-20 beans cut into 1 inch strips

Other vegetables (optional)- pick 2 or 3 of these

Drumstick- 1 cut into 2 inch pieces ( this is a Indian vegetable - which once cooked you have to open it up to eat the pulp inside and throw out the outer shell)

small Indian eggplant ( black beauty eggplant) - cut into small pieces - 1

Pumpkin - cut in cubes - 1/2 cup

Snake gourd - cut into small pieces- 1/2 cup

Plantain - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Yam - cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Yogurt - 1/2 cup (whisk until smooth)

Salt to taste

To grind:

Coconut ( grated ) - 1/2 cup

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Green chillies - 2 to 3 ( de-seeded if you want it less spicy)

Garnish

Coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Curry leaves - 4 to 5

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Instructions 

1. Take a large saucepan and add the carrot, beans, potato and drumstick to it and add water just until it covers the vegetables . Add turmeric powder and a teaspoon of salt and cook the vegetables until they are soft ( but not mushy). You can use a fork to poke the vegetables to see if it is cooked.
2. Some of the softer vegetables like pumpkin , snake gourd may need to be cooked separately since they get mushy pretty quickly
3. Drain excess water and keep the vegetables in the saucepan
   
   
   
4. While the vegetables are cooking grind the ingredients that are listed ' to grind' together into a smooth paste
5. Add the ground paste to the vegetables and fold in and mix well taking care not to mush the vegetables and cook for 3 to 4 minutes with a lid on the pot 
   
   
   

   

   
   
   
   
6. Finally add the yogurt in and mix it with the vegetables and turn down the temperature to low and allow to cook for a minute or two
7. Turn off the stove
8. Now in a separate little pan add the coconut oil and heat it up and add the curry leaves and cumin seeds to it and sauté it just for a few seconds until the seeds pop slightly.
9. Take this oil and the curry leaves/cumin and pour into the cooked avial and mix. This garnish gives avial its wonderful aroma and taste 
   
   
   
10. Serve with rice as a curry or as a side dish with Adai.

• Tip: Mix the avial with rice and you can eat it with a side of potato poriyal ( spicy potato side dish) or chips or appalam (indian version of chips)