Vegan Thai green curry

Vegan Thai green curry is a classic Thai crowd pleaser prepared without any animal products yet with the depth of flavour of the original. Naturally gluten-free.

INGREDIENTS
PASTE

• 2 medium shallots
• 4 garlic cloves
• thumb-size piece of ginger
• 2 stalks of lemongrass, soft inner part chopped roughly
• 4 green Thai chillies (deseeded for less heat)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp ground white (or black if unavailable) pepper
• coriander stalks from a big bunch of coriander (use the leaves to serve)
• 1 tsp salt

METHOD

• In a food processor, combine all the paste ingredients until finely chopped.
• Heat up oil in a heavy-bottomed casserole dish on a low heat.
• Add curry paste to the hot oil and fry it off gently, for 10 minutes, stirring the entire time.
• Stir in coconut milk (you can use low-fat coconut milk if you want the curry to be skinnier).
• Finally add in the lime leaves and stock (or water). Start off with 360 ml / 1½ cups of stock and add more to achieve the desired consistency. Traditionally this curry sauce is fairly thin and soupy in consistency.
• Allow the sauce to come to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on a low heat.
• Season with tamari (soy sauce or vegan fish sauce), lime juice and a touch of sugar (if needed). If you can, allow the curry flavours to develop overnight as it always tastes better the day after it has been made. If you are making this dish a day in advance, I recommend not cooking the vegetables until just before serving.
• In terms of the veggies, you could simply cook them in the simmering curry, but that gives you less control over the ‘doneness’ of the individual elements and it affects the colour of the green veggies. I personally prefer to bake the butternut squash and aubergine in the oven and to steam the sugar snap peas and broccoli. I baked the butternut squash and aubergine in a 210° C / 410° F (190° C / 375° F with fan) oven for about 20 minutes (turning them once, after 10 minutes) after coating them in a bit of olive oil. I steamed my sugar snap peas for 2 minutes and tenderstem broccoli for 5 minutes.
• Serve on top of plain jasmine rice garnished with blanched bean sprouts and fresh coriander.