Thai red curry | Vegetarian Thai red curry recipe
Thai red curry | Vegetarian Thai red curry recipe with step by step photos. This spicy and flavourful red Thai curry is loaded with lots of healthy veggies and richness of coconut milk. This vegan curry tastes delicious and has an authentic umami flavour and aroma without even using the fish sauce.
This amazingly simple and easy-to-make homemade vegetarian Thai red curry is a treat for your tastebuds. Loaded with full-fat coconut milk and Thai curry paste enhances the umami flavour in the curry and tastes authentic. Also, the veggies add to the taste and blends very well with the curry.
When making any Thai dishes maybe Thai curry or noodles or rice, it is best to use authentic Thai herbs. Such as Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, Thai basil leaves, fresh lemongrass with stalks, Bird’s eye red chillies. If you want to get the real taste of Thai curry, then these herbs cannot be substituted with any other herbs.
Though, there are few alternatives for these herbs if you do not find it near you. You can use Italian basil leaves instead of Thai basil leaves. Also, You can replace Galangal with ginger and kaffir lime leaves with lemon zest. I have already tried and tested it, you will have to compromise on the taste and aroma.
Ingredients for making Thai red curry
In this recipe, I have used store-bought Thai curry paste of ‘KOH Thai brand‘ as I couldn’t find all the authentic herbs here. Also, the best brand for creamy, full-fat & organic coconut milk in the Netherlands is ‘AROY-D‘ brand with no added chemicals and allergic additives. I use this coconut milk for making curries as well as smoothies.
And I usually use bamboo shoots from ‘Daily‘ brand for making this curry as well as other Thai dishes. Bamboo shoots have a nice earthy, chewy and nutty texture. I have shared the pic below of the ingredients.
Add the veggies of your choice. I love to add shiitake mushroom in the Thai curry but since it was not available I replaced it with white button mushrooms. Also, if you haven’t yet tasted bamboo shoots, I would suggest you taste it and I promise you won’t regret. It adds a nice crunch to the curry while chewing. Before adding it to the curry, transfer the strips of bamboo shoots to the bowl and rinse it with fresh water. Then simmer it for 5 mins to get rid of unpleasant smell. Other veggies I used are Zucchini/courgette and red bell peppers.
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you in the comments. I love to hear from you.
If you enjoy this hearty recipe, be sure to check out my Blog for more!
Vegetarian Thai red curry recipe
Materials
- 350 ml Full-fat Coconut milk
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 1 tsp Soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Tomato ketchup or use pulp from 1 tomato
- ¼ tsp Crushed black pepper freshly crushed
- ¼ tsp Salt or as per taste. Salt is already present in the Thai curry paste, so use accordingly.
- 1 cup Sliced button mushrooms or use Shittake mushroom for a more earthy and smoky flavour
- 1 cup Courgette or Zucchini chopped in cubes
- 1 can of Bamboo shoots it adds a chewy and nutty flavour
- 1 Red bell pepper cut in cubes
- 2 tbsp water if needed
Instructions
Preparations for Thai red curry recipe:
- Firstly, transfer the bamboo shoots from the can to the colander and rinse it under the tap water.
- Shift the rinsed bamboo shoots in the hot boiling water and let it simmer for 5 mins.
- After 5 mins, again transfer the bamboo shoots to the colander and rinse it under tap water to clean it thoroughly.
- Rinse the button mushrooms and slice them vertically. Also, chop the zucchini and red bell pepper in cubes.
- Also, shake the coconut milk before using and measure and transfer the coconut milk to another bowl.
Preparing Thai red curry recipe:
- Add 50 to 70 ml of coconut milk in the wide thick-bottom pan or kadhai and cook on medium flame till it is reduced and coconut oil starts separating from the coconut milk.
- Once you see oil releasing from the milk, add 3 tbsps of Thai red curry paste.
- Mix the paste nicely with the coconut oil and cook the curry paste for a couple of minutes in the coconut oil.
- After a few minutes, you will notice the oil is separating from the paste, now add the remaining 300ml of coconut milk in the pan.
- Mix the paste with the coconut milk without forming any lumps. It will take time to blend the milk with paste.
- Now add 1 tsp of soy sauce.
- Followed by a tsp of palm sugar or regular sugar.
- Lastly, add a tbsp of tomato ketchup and mix all the ingredients nicely.
- Once the curry comes to a boil, lower the flame. and add the chopped veggies - courgette, button mushroom and boiled and rinsed bamboo shoots.
- Now add ½ tsp of freshly crushed black pepper and salt as per taste. Do not add more salt, Thai curry paste already has salt in it.
- Mix the veggies and spices with the curry so that all the veggies are covered from all the sides with curry.
- Cover the pan with the lid and cook for 5 to 6 mins.
- After 5 to 6 mins, remove the lid and add chopped red bell peppers.
- Again cover the lid and cook for another 10 minutes on low-medium flame, so that bell peppers still retain some crunch and bamboo shoots absorb the Thai flavour from the curry.
- After 8 to 10 mins, turn off the flame and gently stir the curry and veggies together so that everything is combined well.
- Serve the hot Thai red curry with steamed jasmine rice or plain basmati rice.
Notes
Step-by-step Instructions
Preparations for Thai red curry recipe:
- Firstly, transfer the bamboo shoots from the can to the colander and rinse it under the tap water.
Shift the rinsed bamboo shoots in the hot boiling water and let it simmer for 5 mins.
- After 5 mins, again transfer the bamboo shoots to the colander and rinse it under tap water to clean it thoroughly.
- Rinse the button mushrooms and slice them vertically. Also, chop the zucchini and red bell pepper in cubes.
- Also, shake the coconut milk before using and measure and transfer the coconut milk to another bowl.
Preparing Thai red curry recipe:
- Add 50 to 70 ml of coconut milk in the wide thick-bottom pan or kadhai and cook on medium flame till it is reduced and coconut oil starts separating from the coconut milk.
- Once you see oil releasing from the milk, add 3 tbsps of Thai red curry paste.
- Mix the paste nicely with the coconut oil and cook the curry paste for a couple of minutes in the coconut oil.
- After a few minutes, you will notice the oil is separating from the paste, now add the remaining 300ml of coconut milk in the pan.
- Mix the paste with the coconut milk without forming any lumps. It will take time to blend the milk with paste.
- Now add 1 tsp of soy sauce.
- Followed by a tsp of palm sugar or regular sugar.
- Lastly, add a tbsp of tomato ketchup and mix all the ingredients nicely.
- Once the curry comes to a boil, lower the flame. and add the chopped veggies – courgette, button mushroom and boiled and rinsed bamboo shoots.
- Now add ½ tsp of freshly crushed black pepper and salt as per taste. Do not add more salt, Thai curry paste already has salt in it.
- Mix the veggies and spices with the curry so that all the veggies are covered from all the sides with curry.
- Cover the pan with the lid and cook for 5 to 6 mins.
- After 5 to 6 mins, remove the lid and add chopped red bell peppers.
- Again cover the lid and cook for another 10 minutes on low-medium flame, so that bell peppers still retain some crunch and bamboo shoots absorb the Thai flavour from the curry.
- After 8 to 10 mins, turn off the flame and gently stir the curry and veggies together so that everything is combined well.
- Serve the hot Thai red curry with steamed jasmine rice or plain basmati rice.
Important tips for making authentic Thai red curry:
- The secret for making amazing Thai red curry is to use plenty of ingredients like Thai herbs and red curry paste which enhances umami flavour.
- Make sure to use organic coconut milk, with no additives and chemicals, to get a silky smooth texture of curry.
- Also, for making this curry choose creamy full-fat coconut milk for its richness.
- Also, rinse and drain canned bamboo shoots to get rid of unpleasant smell.
- Adding a small amount of tomato pulp or tomato paste or even tomato ketchup enhances the taste of the curry with its tangy flavour.
- Feel free to use store-bought Thai red curry paste to get that original umami flavour. You can also make the paste at home if all the authentic herbs are available near you.
- Use the vegetables as per your choice. I personally prefer using mushrooms, courgette, bell peppers, bamboo shoots, broccoli, tofu/paneer or even some times yellow butternut squash.
- As long as you chop the veggies in the same size, you can feel free to change vegetables of your choice.
- If you are vegan or vegetarian, make sure to check the ingredients before you purchase the red curry paste, because not all brands provide vegetarian paste. They mainly include shrimp and fish sauce.
Finally, I would like to share my other veg Curry recipes from my blog. This includes Dum aloo recipe, Paneer kadhai recipe, Mushroom kadhai gravy recipe, Matar Jhol recipe, spicy misal pav recipe, matar ke chole recipe, etc. Also, go through our Indian bread section for a variety of rotis like Butter naan recipe, palak paratha recipe, kachori recipes and thalipeeth recipe. In addition to this, do visit my other recipes collection from my blog like Main course collection, Breakfast collection, Desserts collection, etc.
Did you try this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #fop.flavoursonplate.
This looks so delicious. I tried your recipe and I must say it is better than those high rated chef.