Choose a Thai curry paste – red, green, yellow or massaman and keep a large pot of it in the fridge. You can attempt to make your own but you really do not need to! Tom Yum paste comes in really handy too, so grab some of that while you’re at it. Chilies, garlic, lemon grass, ginger – all good healing and blood cleansing stuff. Then when you’ve got some left over to use up - mushrooms, green beans, aubergine, onion or some baby sweet corn, just whip this baby up with some Thai jasmine or glutinous rice (you'll need to soak that for a few hours before steaming).
This serves 2-3 people.
You will need:
1-2 tbs rapeseed oil
50g Thai curry paste
100g tofu or tempeh, cubed
200g mixed veggies – onion, baby corn, green beans, mixed mushrooms etc
1 can of coconut milk
1.5 tsp palm or coconut sugar
a large handful of fresh coriander
splash of fish sauce to taste - could use lime juice
Thai jasmine or glutinous rice to serve
Heat up the oil and fry off the curry paste for a minute, then add a cup of the coconut milk and stir gently. Add the tofu and heat through with our breaking the cubes up too much. Keep adding coconut milk and half a cup of water until you have a bubbling sauce. Sprinkle in the sugar. Add the veggies, stir, stick the lid on and simmer for 10 minutes. Check the seasoning and add a dash of fish sauce, or lime juice, to taste. Serve piping hot and garnish with fresh coriander sprigs.
Culinary herbs are the great mainstay of nutritious cooking – Coriander is rich in flavonoids, fibre, vitamin C and minerals, they taste great too. Use liberally!