Authentic vegetarian/vegan Thai Green Curry Recipe.

Thai green curry actually is a very lovely shade of pale green. It’s a sweet tasting, creamy curry but it can also be pretty darn hot, so take care when adding the spice ingredients! You can make your own vegan and vegetarian friendlyThai green curry paste and there are lots of very good recipes out there that can save you a little bit of money but I have found that it was very time consuming and quite frankly, the ready made variety of Thai green curry paste is every bit as good as the home made on so why not cut corners a little and save yourself some time.

There are many vegan friendly ones on the market too, experiment until you find the one that suits your taste best. Any leftover curry paste will keep quite well in the fridge for a couple of weeks.This recipe serves two but we are quite greedy when it comes to this great dish and so you might be able to stretch that, especially if you serve the curry with some nan bread or poppadoms, or you can just scale up the ingredients.

Ingredients

1 tbsp sunflower oil

2 tbsp vegan green curry paste. Add this to taste.

1 tbsp soft dark brown sugar

I tbsp lime zest

I large aubergine diced

6-8 chestnut mushrooms cut into quarters

1 onion roughly chopped

Handful of frozen peas

Carton coconut milk or cream, prepared as instructed on the box.

Handful of torn basil leaves

Small handful of shredded coriander

splash of light soy sauce

Juice from 1 large lime

Method

In a heavy based frying pan or deep wok fry the diced aubergine, chestnut mushrooms and chopped onion in the sunflower oil, you can add a little of the Thai green curry paste to the oil but I find this makes the curry even hotter but if that’s how you like your curries then go ahead and add a little at this stage of the recipe. Cook this mixture until the aubergine has softened a little, about ten minutes on a low heat. Pour in the coconut milk/cream, add the peas, curry paste, lime juice, soft brown sugar, soy sauce and the lime zest and give it a good stir.

Cook for a further twenty minutes then add the basil and coriander, keeping a few of the leaves back to garnish the finished dish. Simmer the curry for another ten - fifteen minutes. Serve on a bed of plain boiled rice or noodles, whichever you prefer, and sprinkle the retained basil and coriander leaves over the top, you can also add a little more fresh lime zest.

This Thai green curry can be made with a variety of vegetables, try substituting potatoes, squash or marrow for the aubergine. Add thinly sliced green peppers at the same time as you add basil and coriander.

I have found that if I batch cook this dish it freezes really well, it can be left out to defrost overnight or if I'm in a hurry it can be defrosted in the microwave without impairing the taste or texture of the curry.

For more veggie recipes, tips and information check out my new blog.