I LOVE curry and before I went plant-based I cooked it hundreds of times. Tonight I made a plant-based curry for the first time and loved it. As a matter of fact I ate it so quickly I forgot to take pictures :(. The good news is I have just enough for lunch tomorrow so I’ll add them tomorrow. Here’s the recipe I came up with but I feel like this is one you can REALLY play around with in about every aspect and it will still turn out good. It’s really amazing how the coconut extract replicates the coconut milk “taste” to a point where you’ll wonder why you ever used coconut milk in the traditional recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 1/2 cups cooked) of your favorite brown rice (I used a brand of organic basmati rice I found at Wal-Mart)
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 large green pepper, sliced
- 1 Jalapeno pepper, sliced (optional)
- 1 head of cauliflower cut into florets (I like large chunks because they will break down some during cooking)
- 3 tsp red or green curry paste (make sure you find some without oil, I used Thai Kitchen brand), note “Golden Curry” brand has tons of oil – stay away from it!
- 2 cups of your favorite Almond or Soy Milk (I like Almond)
- 1 tsp coconut extract (I found this at Publix)
- 1/2 cup frozen peas (optional, I didn’t add them but will next time)
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- pepper and additional curry powder to taste (I added some HOT madras curry powder cause I love the heat and the taste)
Brown rice takes FOREVER to cook correctly, start it an hour or more before dinner. I am fortunate enough to have an awesome family that bought me an Aroma Rice Cooker/Steamer with a brown rice setting that cooks brown rice perfectly every time (even if it does take an hour).
In a large saucepan saute your garlic in a tablespoon of water (or veg broth), just for a minute or so. Then add your onions, green pepper, jalapeno, and cauliflower. Saute over med/high heat until everything is starting to get tender (about 6-8 minutes adding water or veg broth if needed, but normally your onions will have enough water so you don’t need it).
In a separate container roughly mix your almond/soy milk and curry paste together. Reduce your heat to simmer and add the mixture to your saucepan along with all the other ingredients. Stir well until all the ingredients are mixed (you can add more almond/soy milk if you feel like the curry is too thick). Once everything is mixed well, add the frozen peas and simmer for 15 minutes. Enjoy over brown rice!