Thai green curry idea

It's been a while and to be honest I haven't cooked an awful lot that I haven't before. I find myself with a lot less time on my hands now than I used to, especially now I've picked up a new hobby as well. I might just do a "recipe of the month" from now on.

But anyway! Here's this rather cheaty thai green curry, as I didn't make the paste myself but was testing one ofthe only other curry pastes I know to be vegetarian from Tesco supermarket. It wasn't brilliant, too much heat and not enough flavour for my liking, but find a decent curry paste and the combination of veggies and coconut milk in this version will taste great.


Thai Green Curry

Serves 2

Takes 30 minutes


Half a block of tofu (enough for a good handful of small pieces each)

1 courgette

1 red pepper

5-6 babycorns

Half a white onion

A clove of garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

400ml coconut milk (I always use half-fat, but full fat tastes much better)

Thai green curry paste

Half a lime

Noodles or rice to serve.


* Drain and chop the tofu into small pieces. Fry on a medium heat for 7-10 minutes until getting nicely brown on all sides.

* In the meantime chop the vegetables as desired. When the tofu is nicely fried, add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the curry paste and coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.

* Tip in the rest of the vegetables and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may wish to add the courgettes a little after the others if you prefer them with a bit of bite.

* When ready to serve, squeeze in the juice from the lime and stir through.

Banana Curry

Despite the ingredients, this curry isn't especially sweet. It's mild, creamy and the bananas take on a texture akin to sweet potatoes. Using curry paste is a bit of a cheat method, but I'm still not confident enough with spices to attempt something that requires such delicate flavours. I used korma curry paste, for the mild, sweetness but you can use whatever you want. The best bananas are still half green; anything riper than that will fall apart. I used tinned pineapple because I'm not chopping up a pineapple, but fresh would be great if you have it.

I also used tofu to add some protein, but that is optional. Whenever I fry tofu I fry it in a little dark soy sauce and mirin, no matter what the type of dish is I'm serving. I find it adds just that little bit of extra flavour.


Banana curry

Serves 4

Takes 35 minutes


4 semi-ripe bananas

1 large onion (or 2 escallion shallots)

1 400g tin of pineapple pieces in juice

1 400ml tin of coconut milk

At least 4 tbsp korma curry paste, add more for a stronger taste

3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped

400g block of firm tofu, chopped into small pieces (optional)

A splash of dark soy sauce and mirin to fry the tofu in (optional)

Rice to serve


* Fry the tofu over a medium heat for 5 minutes with the soy sauce and mirin, if using. Chop the onions and banana while doing this.

* Add the onions and garlic and fry with the tofu for a few minutes until the onion is translucent

* Add the bananas and stir around for a minute or so, then stir in the curry paste.

* Make sure the curry paste has coated everything and had a chance to infuse, then add the coconut milk.

* Stir the coconut milk through well and add the pineapple including some of the juice. The more you put, the sweeter and runnier the curry will ultimately be.

* Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or longer if you prefer a thicker sauce.

Goes well with brown rice.

Coconut Rice

Do it. DO EEET! If you have even a passing liking for coconut, then this rich, creamy rice is well worth trying. It can be served with curries, stir fries, pretty much anything from the eastern countries that calls for rice. I served it with oriental style pancakes with spicy ficken stripes, thinly slice spring onion, cucumber and banana to stuff them with.


Coconut rice

Serves 4


Approx 160ml coconut cream (I think you can convert this to grams if only the solid variety is available)

220g rice

500ml water


* Put the rice, water and coconut cream in a pan.

* Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer gently until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. It should still look quite moist and creamy. This should take 10-15 minutes.

* I didn't have these, but if you do, I thought some flakes of dessicated coconut stirred through might make a nice addition.