I made this curry for dinner last Thursday. I usually shop on a Saturday so often find myself at the end of the week scouring the fridge to use up leftover vegetables, trying not to throw anything away. I had a whole unopened packet of mushrooms about five days past its sell by date (as long as food hasn’t actually gone off I’m usually happy to use it) and loads of broccoli.

I also had some pak choi, half small tin of coconut milk, fresh chilles, a stick of lemon grass, fresh ginger and garlic. I would have added more coconut milk if I had some as the sauce wasn’t quite creamy enough. I would also have liked some fresh coriander.

My favourite part of making this curry was blending up all the ingredients for the curry paste,  it smells so fragrant and delicious – so much better than using pre-made paste from a jar.

I haven’t been specific about quantities of ingredients here, I don’t think it matters too much. You can also add other vegetables of course. Served with rice noodles this is a completely vegan meal.

Ingredients

• Mushrooms – any will do, I used chestnut mushrooms, roughly chopped
• Broccoli, broken into florets
• Pak choi, roughly chopped
• Vegetable stock cube dissolved about 200mls boiling water
• Coconut milk
• Oil for cooking
• Rice noodles

For the curry paste:

• 2 cloves of garlic
• A few spring onions, shallots, or any other onion (whatever you have)
• 1 stick lemon grass, chopped
• 2 chillies, roughly chopped
• About a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (or a bunch of fresh preferably)
• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Blitz the curry paste ingredients in a blender. Heat the oil in the pan and cook the paste gently for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the mushrooms, broccoli, pak choi (or whatever vegetables you are using) and  stir well, cooking for a few minutes.
3. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Soak the noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes (or follow the packet instructions) and then add to the curry.
5. Stir in the coconut milk, cook for 3 or 4 minutes and serve.

 

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