Fried Tofu and bell peppers in a spicy thai curry with high flavors of coconut milk induced in it. Why thai curry suddenly? 😉 Simple! I felt like having it for dinner. I wanted to make something quick for dinner. Curry paste is one of the most convenient items that you keep a tub of it in fridge for days and can be used any time for many thai. You have a lot of store bought curry recipes, its good too. But it is good to prepare your own according to your taste buds. Its healthy and also you can save pretty penny by making it yourself and storing it in fridge. I always wanted to have good thai sauce. I hate to go to restaurants mostly 😉 because sometimes I don’t have vegetarian option when I wanted it most. I felt like having a nice thai curry today, so I attacked google for the recipe. Watched a few youtube channels, and a few of my own attempts I have created this thai curry sauce 🙂 made me happy after seeing the end result. When you have the first spoon after the thai curry is prepared, just try to control yourself or else there wont be much leftover for next person 😀 Store in a tight container for up to 10 days in the fridge or freeze it up for longer.
- Tofu – 1 Package firm rofu,8 oz, drainage and cut into 1-inch cubes
- Coconut milk – ½ cup or 1 can
- Bell peppers – 1 cup (I used yellow and orange)
- Peanut butter – 2 tbsp
For Red curry paste: - Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
- Cumin - 1 tsp
- Pepper balls – 3
- Red chillies – 3 (soaked in water for ten minutes)
- Fresh Lemon grass – 1 stalk/ 3 tbsp
- Green chillies - 1
- Lime Leaf – 1 tbsp
- Shallot -1
- Garlic – 3
- Ginger – 1 inch
- Olive oil – 1 tbsp
- Red curry paste preparation: Blend all the ingredients under “for red curry paste” into smooth paste. This paste takes minutes to make but keep up to taken days if sealed with olive oil in a closed jar. To awaken flavors add some lime juice, add salt and pepper blend into a smooth paste.
- Tofu-capsicum preparation: Cut the tofu into slices and press with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Wait for few minutes and press again. There is a lot of water in there. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add chilli flakes, place the tofu and capsicum on the pan for five minutes and toss it and fry the other side of the tofu for another five minutes. Season some salt, pepper and soy sauce. Remove the mixture. Keep it aside.
- Coconut milk preparation: Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan over high heat. When it starts to simmer, add the peanut butter, grounded curry paste, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and garlic. Whisk and keep on high heat for 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
[img src=”https://www.relishthebite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/collage2thairedcurry.jpg” /> - Curry Preparation: Add the tofu capsicum and peanuts into this. Simmer for another 5-10 minutes. When the sauce coats the black of a spoon, add small amounts of broth or water and whisk according to the consistency you use.
- Serve over rice and noodles. Or any other way 😉 you like it. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and scallions on top of it, nice and generous.
2. Adding crushed peanuts; the constancy really thickens quite a bit.
3. Instead of soy sauce, we can use fish sauce (but not vegetarian). Or can use hoisin sauce also.
4. You can use a store bought curry paste, they are also equally good. But if you want it to be pure vegetarian, check the label, as some curry pastes contain shrimp paste.
5. If you want to know how to toss, push it down, push away and pull back.