THAI RED GARDEN VEG CURRY
Meeting Green Kitchen Stories + Thai Red Garden Vegetable Curry
What an exciting week it has been... On Tuesday, I met the gorgeous couple behind the inspirational food blog Green Kitchen Stories at the Charlotte Street Hotel here in London, where they were hosting a Film & Food event in celebration of the release of their new cookbook Green Kitchen Travels (I can't recommend it enough).
For those of you who don't know, this divine Danish-Swedish duo write a gorgeous healthy vegetarian food blog inspired by their travels. Their recipes and stories have warmed my heart, enchanted my soul and titillated my tastebuds over the last year. Their wholesome and creative attitude towards food, travel and life resonate so deeply with me that it inspired me to start this blog last November. Their beautiful cook book is inspired by their adventures with their darling little daughter Elsa, as they travel from San Francisco to Marrakesh to Beijing and so much more. Their recipes are inspiring and uncomplicated using whole, natural, fresh ingredients that delight both the eyes and the palate.
Meeting them was like a dream come true! I'm not easily starstruck (as I'm not partial to our society's infatuation with celebrities), but meeting David and Luise was a special moment for me. I took great pleasure in being able to tell them how they changed my life with their blog by giving me the courage to express myself creatively and culinarily through a blog. It was such a privilege and honour to actually sit down with David over a delicious dinner (with recipes from the new book) and talk endlessly about food and travels, after having just watched the hilarious film Julie & Julia (Luise unfortunately had to go up early to be with their newborn baby boy). In the words of David with his charming Swedish lilt, "Meryl Streep is AMAAAAZING" in this film. And indeed she was, and it was such an AMAAAAZING evening!
Now on to today's post…
Similar to little Elsa who is now 4 years old, I was whisked around the world from the age of 3 weeks by my globe-trotting parents. Born in Singapore and growing up in Jakarta and Hong Kong, I spent most family holidays discovering Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Thus, I don't remember a time when curry didn't form an essential part of my food repertoire. Granted this also has a lot to do with having a Malaysian-Chinese mother.
One of my first memories of cooking was helping my mum, who is Malaysian-Chinese, to make curry: frying the garlic, ginger and curry paste and pouring in the unctuous coconut milk into the pan of simmering spices. It is probably my go-to comfort food. Here is the most simple recipe for a Thai Red Curry with vegetables from our garden (see the runner beans from our garden in photos below). Enjoy!
Fragrant Thai Red Curry with Garden Vegetables
Serves 2
Ingredients:
1 tb of coconut oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 inches of ginger, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
3 tb of organic red curry paste (if you are not making your own paste, make sure you buy one that is without MSG or anything dodgy, there are loads of good Thai ones out there, read the ingredient labels)
1 can (400g) organic full-fat coconut milk
handful of fresh seasonal vegetables: (I used 1 x courgette, 1 x cauliflower, 8 x runner beans, few leaves of kale, 1 x red pepper, 8 x cherry tomatoes)
handful of fresh coriander and pepper for garnish
handful of live sprouts (optional)
Instructions:
1. Trim, slice, chop or dice your vegetables as you prefer.
2. Heat coconut oil in a pan and cook the onion, garlic, ginger and curry paste at high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally making sure nothing sticks to the pan.
3. Lower the heat and add the vegetables if using (save red pepper and tomatoes for later) and pan fry gently for a few minutes.
4. Pour in the can of coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes or so.
5. Stir in the cherry tomatoes and chopped red pepper and simmer for another 5 minutes at low heat.
6. Garnish with fresh coriander and sprouts. And serve alongside bowl of steaming brown rice.