Thai Red Curry

Thai red curry could possibly be the best thing humans have ever invented, at least since tools, the wheel and (maybe) sliced bread. A feel-good meal with a hell of a kick, it’s always best when you make your own paste; it doesn’t take long and you can keep half for Tom Yum Soup or freeze it for later.
Serves
Serves 4
Total Time
1 Hour
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 fresh red chilli
200g of mushrooms
60g of baby corn
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
150ml of vegetable stock
1 tbsp of palm sugar (or regular sugar)
2 tbsp of agave syrup
4 tbsp of soy sauce
160g of baby plum tomatoes
50g of mangetout
½ x 425g tin lychees (optional)
For The Thai Red Curry Paste (makes 300g)
1 tsp of cumin seeds
2 tbsp of coriander seeds
2cm piece of fresh ginger
5 shallots
5 garlic cloves
2 lemongrass stalks
3 fresh red chillies
1 red bird’s eye chilli, optional
1 tsp of black peppercorns
½ roasted red pepper from a jar
2 tbsp of tomato purée
3 kaffir lime leaves
½ lime
10g of fresh coriander, plus extra for garnish
2 tsp of salt
50ml of water
Liquidiser | Large deep frying pan or wok on a high heat
Method
Step 1

To make the Thai red curry paste, scatter the cumin and coriander seeds over the pan and toast for two minutes. Peel the ginger by scraping off the skin with a spoon and roughly chop. Peel and roughly chop the shallots. Peel the garlic. Trim and roughly chop the lemongrass. Rip the stems from the chillies, removing the seeds if you prefer a milder sauce

Step 2

Put the toasted seeds into the liquidiser along with the ginger, shallots, garlic and lemongrass. Add the fresh red chillies, bird’s eye chilli, if using, peppercorns, roasted red pepper, tomato purée and the lime leaves. Squeeze in the lime juice, catching any pips in your other hand. Add the 10g fresh coriander, salt and a splash of water, then whizz until really smooth with no bits, adding up to 50ml of water to loosen it if necessary. Spoon 100g of the paste into a bowl and set the rest aside to use another time (freeze it in batches of 100g)

Step 3

Cut the red and green peppers in half and cut out the stems and seeds, then cut into 2cm chunks. Rip the stems from two of the chillies, removing the seeds if you prefer a milder flavour, and cut into slices. Slice the mushrooms and halve the baby corn

Step 4

Put the pan back on a high heat and add the oil. When it’s hot, add the 100g curry paste and fry for two minutes, until the paste deepens in colour and smells amazing. Pour in the coconut milk and vegetable stock and stir well to mix everything together. Add the sugar, agave syrup, soy sauce, peppers, chilli, mushroom, baby corn, tomatoes and mangetout. Drain the lychees, if using and add them to the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 7–10 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt, sugar or agave syrup.

Recipe curtesey of BOSH! by Henry Firth and Ian Theasby is published by HQ, HarperCollins in hardback priced at £20

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