Thai Green Curry 2

Thai green curry is a mildly flavored gravy side dish with a lot of depth of subtle flavors, delicately spiced with herbs and spices like lemongrass, garlic, ginger, green chilies, cilantro, green onions, basil, coriander, cumin, black pepper and lime zest. It is a versatile dish that offers a lot of flexibility in the choice of vegetables! Serve it with some hot white or brown rice for a quick and delicious dinner option.

Ingredients (serves 4):

Thai Green Curry Paste:

• Coriander seeds (1 tsp)
• Cumin seeds (1 tsp)
• Black pepper corns (1 tsp)
• Lemongrass stalks (3 tsp)
• Ginger (1 tbsp)
• Garlic (5-6 cloves)
• Green chilies (4-5 or per taste)
• Spring onions (3 tbsp)
• Coriander leaves (2 handfuls with stems)
• Lime rind/zest (1 tsp)
• Lemon/lime juice (1 tbsp)
• Basil leaves (1 handful)
• Soy sauce (1 tbsp)

Thai Green Curry:

• Diced or sliced vegetables (carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, mushroom, baby corn, zucchini, celery, onions) (4 cups)
• Chopped spinach leaves (1 cup)
• Tofu pieces (1 cup)
• Olive oil (1 tbsp)
• Coconut milk (1.5 cup)
• Rice flour (optional) (1 tbsp)
• Salt (to taste)
• Sugar (1 tsp)

Method:

Thai Green Curry Paste:

• Grind all the ingredients with a little water. Empty this into a clean and dry glass jar and keep refrigerated. You can use this up for to 2 weeks, if kept refrigerated.

Coconut Milk (optional):

• You can buy this in the store or make it at home. If you are making this at home, take 3 heaped tablespoonfuls of grated coconut and add 1 cup of water. Blend it on high speed for a couple minutes. Filter the blended mixture and collect the clear liquid and squeeze the coconut residues. Add 1/2 cup of water to the coconut and blend again. Repeat the filtration process and collect the liquid again after squeezing the coconut residues. You may repeat this process one more time, if you wish. 

Thai Green Curry:

• In a wide pan, heat olive oil on a medium flame. Add tofu and onions and saute until the onions turn translucent.
• Add the vegetables, starting with the vegetables that take the longest time to cook. Add salt and sugar. Turn flame to medium high and keep stirring continuously.
• Add 3 tbsp of green curry paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add coconut milk (store-bought or home made) and spinach. and bring to a boil. If you find that the consistency is too liquid, you may make a paste of rice flour with water, add it the gravy and bring to a boil.
• Serve hot with brown rice or white rice.

Tastes (Rasa):

Sweet (coconut milk, tofu), sour (lime zest, lemon), salty (salt), bitter (lemongrass, cilantro, coriander seeds, lime zest), pungent (pepper, cumin, chilies, garlic, ginger, green onions), astringent (spinach, cilantro, lemongrass).

Doshic Influence:

This is a dish that can be made in a tridoshic manner. Coconut milk is nourishing and calming for vata and pitta doshas respectively. The spices used are digestive and help to enhance the digestibility of the dish, however in excess, some of these spices may aggravate pitta. If these are used in moderation, there is no problem. Examples of these spices and herbs are ginger, garlic, green chilies, pepper and lemongrass. On the flip side, these pungent spices and herbs help with balancing some of the kapha/heavy qualities of ingredients like tofu, store-bought coconut milk, white/brown rice etc. Spices like coriander seeds and herbs like cilantro are both digestive and cooling, balancing off some of the pungent and heating spices mentioned earlier.

Effects on the Mind (Gunas):

This Thai Green curry recipe, if made using fresh ingredients from scratch and with a mild, yet flavorful undertone, can be a sattvic dish that is calming to the mind and nourishing to the body. Usage of too many pungent ingredients can make this into a rajasic dish. Usage of old, stale ingredients or too many preservative laden store-bought sauces can make this a tamasic dish.