Thai Yellow Curry

Though I am not a big fan of South Asian food, as much as I enjoy some other cuisines like the Mediterranean, Italian or Lebanese. However, I still love quite a few Asian dishes for their subtle and fresh flavors. Thai cuisine is one such example, I love their simple flavorsome Thai curries and salads.  And these are some dishes you will see me make several times.

I like all kinds of Thai curries- Thai green curry, Thai red curry, and now this Thai Yellow curry. I also love making this Thai Green Papaya Salad Som Tam which is simple yet so flavorsome.

SUBSTITUTE INGREDIENTS:

Though the Thai curry pastes are easily available in the International Food section of most supermarkets; if they are not available, you can always use some substitutes with some compromise to the flavor. Here are some of the substitutes :

1. Regular Basil leaves instead of Thai Basil
2. Ginger instead of Galangal
3. Lemon zest instead of Kafir Lime leaves
4. Red Chillies instead of Thai chilies

I love adding carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, baby corn, tofu, and bell peppers to my Thai curry. You can add any of these veggies that are available to you.

PREPARATION TIME: 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 20 minutes
SERVINGS: 4-5
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Low

INGREDIENTS: 

For the Thai Yellow Curry Paste –

1. Fresh Turmeric roots – one 5-6 inch piece
2. Onion – 1, small
3. Galangal/Ginger – 4-5 inch piece
4. Garlic- 2-3 pods
5. Lemon juice – 2 tablespoons
6. Lemon zest – 1 teaspoon
7. Kafir lime leaves – 3-4
8. Lemongrass stalks – 2
9. Corriander Leaves – few sprigs
10. Corriander seeds – 2 tablespoons

For the Thai curry –

11. Coconut Milk – 2 cups
12. Broccoli florets – about 10
13. Mushroom – 1/2 cup
14. Capsicum (all colors) – 1/2 cup
15. Carrot – 1
16. Tofu – a few pieces
17. Vegetable oil – 1 tablespoon
18. Salt – to taste

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

1. Grinder
2. Non-stick Kadhai

RECIPE:

For the Thai Yellow Curry paste –

1. Peel the turmeric roots, garlic, galangal, and onion and add them to a grinder jar. Also add kafir lime leaves, lemongrass stalks, Thai chili, and coriander leaves and grind them into a smooth paste.

2. Then add the rest of the ingredients, lemon juice and zest, and coriander seeds and make a nice and fragrant yellow curry paste.

For the Thai Yellow Curry –

3.  Add a little oil to a non-stick Kadhai and allow it to heat up.
4. Dice all the vegetables into bite-size pieces and add them to the wok. I used carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and bell peppers.
5. Add some salt and sweat the veggies until they are cooked more than halfway.
6. Now mix the yellow curry paste (2-3 tablespoons) and cook it for a few minutes.
7. Mix the coconut milk and tofu slices and allow the curry to come to a boil.

8. Adjust the salt and acidity if needed. (I added a little more lemon juice since I like it slightly tangy)
9. Serve the Thai yellow curry hot with Jasmine rice. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds if you like.