Green Curry with Charred Tofu, Green Vegetables and Coconut Cream
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time45 minutesmins
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
serves: 4
Ingredients:
for the curry paste-
1red onion
1cupfresh coriander (about a half of a nice bunch)
2green or red chili peppers (please see notes)
1tablespooncumin seeds
1tablespooncoriander seeds
5 cm / 2 inchpiece of ginger
2stalkslemongrass
2clovesof garlic
2tablespoons soy sauce (please use GF if needed)
1tablespoonbrown sugar
the rest of the ingredients-
300gr/ 11 oz firm tofu
400ml/ 14 oz coconut cream
300gr/ 11 oz broccoli florets, cut into medium size florets
150gr/ 6 oz green bean, cut into bite size
150gr/ 6 oz peas (about 1 cup), I used frozen peas
1/2bunchcoriander, chopped
2stemsgreen onions, chopped
1/2cupbasil
Instructions:
Tofu - slice the tofu into medium cubes and place them on a clean towel or a few paper towels. place another clean towel (or a few papers towels) on top of the cubed tofu and press it down gently in order to squeeze the liquids out of the tofu. This is probably the most important thing in the preparation of a good charred tofu. Heat a non-stick pan for 3-4 minutes (if you don't have one- add to the pan one tablespoon of vegetable oil), when the pan is really hot gently place the tofu cubes in it. Let the tofu char well for 2-3 minutes on each side, keep aside.
- Before starting to prepare the paste, gently crush the cumin and coriander seeds to release their flavors using a mortar and pestle. If you don't have one (buy!) you can use a spice grinder or even a rolling pin. Cut the lemongrass, remove all the tough and woody outer leaves and chop roughly.
Preparing the curry paste - In a food processor, place all the curry paste ingredients - red onion, coriander, chili pepper, crushed cumin and coriander seeds, ginger, chopped lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce and brown sugar. Feel free to roughly chop the ingredients before placing them in the food processor (see notes). Turn on the processor and grind all the ingredients for a few minutes until you get a uniform curry paste. Make sure to stop the food processor from time to time so you could scrape the sides of the food processor. That's it, you made a curry paste :)
In a deep and wide sauté pan, or a large pan, place the curry paste and heat it for 2-3 minutes while stirring. Add coconut cream, mix well and bring to a boil. Continue to cook for another 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add to the pan the broccoli florets and charred tofu, stir and cook for 5-7 minutes on a medium heat. Add the peas and green beans and cook for another 4 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Before serving, sprinkle generously with coriander leaves, basil leaves and chopped green onions. Serve alongside rice. Bon appetit!
Notes:
As mentioned, most of the sauce is observed in the vegetables. If you want extra sauce, you can add 1 cup of water or another cup of coconut cream to the pan when adding the coconut cream.
Chili Pepper - you can use either green or red. The dish is spicy to a medium degree, feel free to add or reduce one chili if you'd like. If you don't like spicy food you can add the chili without the seeds in it and if you really don't like spicy food then don't put any chili in it.
Food processor - preparing the curry paste in a food processor makes it really easy. Each food processor has a different strength and there's no one who knows your food processor better than you so chop and slice the ingredients before placing them in the food processor as needed. You can use a pole blender, but then the ingredients need to be chopped really well, including crushing the garlic and grating the ginger.
You can use frozen beans.
Don't try to taste the curry paste before you add it to the coconut cream. I mean, you can try, but the paste is of course concentrated on its flavors. It will balance in the dish.