Thai Coconut Curry

From OSR

This is a basic technique, which you can vary with different meats and vegetables.

I like to sometimes make a quick stir fry, adding Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste (one of the few prepared foods I use) along with the ginger and garlic at the the end, and then stiring in a bit of coconut milk and herbs like Thai basil and cilantro. Other times I prefer to make a soupier Thai fusion curry, which is detailed next.

I like to use Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste for heat and flavor, but since it is so spicy I add more spices to kick up the curry flavor, which you can do if you are going to simmer onions and tomatoes into a sauce. The spices you want to add are:

cumin

corriander

cinnamon

cloves

cardamom

You can add these either as a generic garam masala powder, or you can toast and grind the cumin and corriander and add a cinnamon stick and whole cloves and cardamom to the dish as it simmers.

So, here goes:

1. Put chopped onions, garlic and ginger in a food processor and puree. Use lots of garlic and ginger.
2. Have your meat ready -- thinly sliced beef, chicken or duck, or any seafood works well.
3. For the vegetables, cut them into quick-cooking shapes (julienne for carrots, chunky squares for peppers and onions, leave baby corn whole, etc.). Shred any greens to be used.
4. Prepare your garnish, my favorite is a combination of cilantro, Thai basil and green onions.
5. In a well-oiled skillet, heated NASA-hot, quickly stir fry the chunks of veggies (not the onion puree), being sure NOT to crowd the pan (do it in batches if you need to), and removing them with a spider or slotted spoon when they are starting to brown but still crisp. (In other words, don't remove the oil with them.)
6. Next add the added garam masala-style ground or whole spices along with the onion puree mixture and cook this for a bit (8 to 10 minutes).
7. Next add chopped tomatoes (1 and 1/2 onion to 1 tomato is good). Cook this down well (another 10 to 20 minutes or so). You want to cook it until a finished sauce consistency and doness is reached, because the rest of the ingredients will just be added quickly.
8. Add the Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste, some extra turmeric, and stir to dissolve. You may want to remove any whole spices at this point.
9. Add the coconut milk, and then, once it's simmering again add the greens and cook until done, then add the meat and stir through to just cook, add back the chunky vegetables, and heat through, and finally add the garnish. Done.