Thai Green Curry -- Wao how simple!!!!!

It's been almost a week since I last posted :-( . I was definitely missing my blog space but Raaghav my son needed my attention and care , poor baby had caught viral and was having very high fevers so me and Papa were having sleepless nights.Fever has not gone as yet but still better so thought why not write something.

Thai cuisine has always fascinated me for its colors and freshness but I never tried anything at home as I thought all those fancy ingredients might not be easily available and also believed it to be very hard and technical to cook Thai food and now I think how wrong I was :-) . The other day I was going through one of the blogging sites  I follow "UKRasoi" and found a recipe for "Thai green curry" and found it interesting so searched more and tweaked the things per my liking and availability of ingredients and here I am with a fabulous dish. Papa liked it a lot and I believe you would like it too just give it a try.

Ingredients:-

For Thai Curry Paste:-

1. Green Chillies 2
2. Fresh Thai Basil / Sweet Basil 1 cup
3. Fresh Coriander 1 cup
4. Spring onions finely chopped 5-6 (you can use 1 red onion, but spring onions do add to the freshness of the dish)
5.  Fresh Galangal ( you can use Ginger instead, but fresh Galangal is really the best for authentic flavour )
6. Garlic chopped 3-4 cloves
7. Lemon grass chopped, white core only 3 stalks ( don't compromise on this as this gives that authentic aroma and taste to the dish)
8. Coriander seeds 1 tbsp
9. Black peppercorns 8-10
10. Salt 1 tsp or as per taste
11. Lemon zest 1 tsp
12. Lemon juice 1 Tbsp
13. Olive oil 2 Tbsp
14. Soya Sauce 1 1/2 Tbsp

For the Curry Base :-

1. Maggie coconut milk 1 pack
2. Mix of Vegetables ( I used baby corn, red peppers sliced, yellow peppers sliced , green peppers sliced ,beans cut diagonally, carrots , cauliflower cut into small florets )
3. Fresh Basil for garnish

Method :-

• Cut all the vegetable into bite size pieces.Blanch  all of them except the peppers in boiling water for 4-5 minutes . Be careful that veggies should not loose their crunch and then put them into cold water.
• Firstly prepare the coconut milk by mixing the powder into 1 1/2 cup cold water and then bringing it to a boil. Keep aside.
• Chop all the ingredients for the curry paste roughly, and blend in a mixer to a coarse paste. You may add a little coconut milk to blend . Keep aside.
• In a  pan heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and add the green curry paste prepared earlier and fry for 30 seconds.
• Add  the peppers and all the blanched vegetables and fry for next 3-4 minutes. 
• Add coconut milk and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.
• Taste for seasoning and add more lemon juice or soya sauce if you like more tangy or a pinch or sugar if like it more sweet .

Notes :-

• Use fresh Galangal is very important in this recipe, but if you don't get it fresh ginger can be used as a substitute. 
• Many vegetables can be used in this recipe, including Tofu which should be shallow fried separately .
• Don't compromise on lemon grass as that will give the authentic taste and aroma to the dish.
• Be careful while blanching the veggies they should not loose their crunch.
• Thai basil is best for this recipe but sweet basil also gives the same taste.
• Thickness of the gravy could be adjusted to personal choice by adding water or vegetable broth when we added coconut milk.