Green curry recipe with roasted tofu

Ingredients

Curry paste

2 shallots

4 cloves garlic

2 lemongrass stalks

1 medium green chilli (or more if you want it to be spicy)

50 g coriander

30 g Thai basil

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tbsp maple syrup

¼ cup oil

3 inch ginger

2 limes juiced (zest of one)

Curry

5 kafir lime leaves

1 tsp cumin seeds

4 cans coconut milk

1 block firm tofu (approx 400g)

1 bell pepper

240 g green beans

1 large sweet potato

Extra soy sauce for tofu

Extra coriander for garnish

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Remove the skins of shallots, garlic, lemongrass stalks and ginger. Roughly chop and place in food processor/ blender with all other paste ingredients. Blend until a green paste is formed.
3. On a low to medium heat, fry the paste in a pan gently (add more oil or a tiny splash of water if the paste looks dry).
4. Whilst the paste is heating, chop tofu into small cubes and place in a bowl. Coat the tofu in oil and add 3 tablespoons of soy sauce. Gently stir the tofu, avoid breaking it, and make sure it is evenly coated with oil and soy sauce.Place in oven on a lined baking tray for 20-30 mins. It should be crispy and browned, but soft in the middle.
5. Add coconut milk to your paste, a long with lime leaves and cumin seeds.
6. Chop up sweet potato into small cubes and add to curry on the stove.
7. Simmer your curry for about 15 minutes, allowing the sweet potatoes to cook and the milk to thicken slightly.
8. Chop up your bell pepper, beans and coriander. (If you want to make rice, this would be a good time).
9. When the sweet potatoes have just softened and are  almost done (not too soft and disintegrating), add the pepper and green beans and cook for about 8 mins, or until just softened with a little bit of bite. Turn off heat.
10. Remove tofu from the oven and add to the curry.
11. Garnish with coriander.

*consistency: this curry is not claiming to be an authentic Thai curry. Being heavily Thai- inspired, you may want to note that Thai curry’s are creamy, but soup-like when compared to thick curries we recognise from other cuisines. The texture is however up to you. Being made completely from coconut milk, this recipe is fairly creamy. If you want a runnier consistency, use a can of water as a substitute for 1 can of coconut milk. If you want it creamier, substitute 1 or 2 cans of coconut milk for the equivalent coconut cream.

*use whatever vegetables you fancy. Extra points for choosing what’s in season!

Article written by Aisling Geraghty- United Kingdom