Dear Eric: I have digestive/intestinal issues and really miss my favourite green and red curry dishes. I would need to avoid soy sauce, fish oils, dairy, gluten and nut oils. Spices are fine, as well as coconut milk and all vegetables, as well as fish and seafood. Any suggestions on how to make a fantastic curry while avoiding these ingredients?
Miranda
The types of curry Miranda is referring to are Thai-style, coconut milk-based ones. Logically, they are deemed a green or a red curry based on their colour, which is determined by the type of curry paste used, the key ingredient.
In turn, the type of hot chili and seasonings used determine the colour of that paste.
For example, small and spicy Thai green chili peppers are used in green curry paste, while, not surprisingly, Thai red chili peppers are used in red curry paste.
In many North American cookbooks and in online recipes for dishes such as green Thai curry prawns or red Thai curry chicken, they ask you to flavour it with green or red curry paste and note that you can buy it at supermarkets.
One leading brand sold in our area is Thai Kitchen. On the label of their green curry paste, it says it contains green chili, lemongrass, galangal (a member of the ginger family), salt, shallots, spices and kafir lime.
None of those ingredients is on Miranda鈥檚 do-not-eat list. But companies making curry pastes often make other products and she may worry about cross-contamination.
To ease that concern, she could call the company making the paste or visit their website to verify what their practices are. For example, on the Thai Kitchen website, , the company says its green and red curry pastes are gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan, but don鈥檛 mention if they are soy-free.
Another way to ensure your curry paste contains ingredients you can eat is to make it yourself, and I have provided a recipe. It requires arm strength, because I have used the traditional method of pounding the ingredients into a paste using a mortar and pestle.
I enjoy the process of pounding and seeing the aromatic ingredients being blended. You can find the ingredients needed for the paste in Victoria鈥檚 Chinatown or at supermarkets that sell a range of Asian foods, such as Fairway Market.
Miranda, if making your own paste seems daunting, I have also provided a recipe where, instead of pounding ingredients together, you simply put them in your blender or food processor with coconut milk and whirl them together. 聽
I then simmered prawns and a few other ingredients on your good-to-go-list in that mixture and the result was the tasty curry you see in today鈥檚 photo.
Take note: The chili peppers used in the recipes are very hot, so wear rubber gloves when chopping and handling them. Also, take care not to put your fingers near your eyes or any other sensitive area on your body.
Thai-style Green Curry Prawns
I call this Thai-style green curry, because rather than flavouring it with green curry paste, I blended many of the ingredients found in that paste with coconut milk.
Not traditional, but it does provide a very flavourful base to simmer prawns in. Serve the curry with steamed rice and a green vegetable.
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: About 10 minutes
Makes: Three to four (six to eight prawns each) servings
For the sauce
1 (14 oz./398 mL) can coconut milk
1鈦�4 cup water
1鈦�4 tsp ground coriander seed
1鈦�8 tsp ground cumin
鈥� pinch ground white pepper
2, 3 or more (depending on how spicy you like it) Thai green chili peppers, stems removed, flesh thinly sliced
6 fresh medium to large Thai basil leaves
1 tsp finely minced shallot
1 tsp finely minced lemongrass
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp minced cilantro stems
1 to 2 tsp finely grated galangal or ginger
鈥� salt to taste
3 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp golden brown sugar or palm sugar, or to taste
鈥� salt to taste聽聽 聽
For the prawns and to finish
1鈦�2 small red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 (8 oz./227 mL) can sliced bamboo shoots, drained well
24 medium to large wild prawns, peeled with tail portion left intact 聽
6 to 8 fresh medium to large fresh Thai basil leaves
Place all the sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse until a smooth sauce is created. Sample the sauce and adjust the taste if desired, by adding, for example, more spice or chilies.
Transfer the sauce to a medium pot and bring to a simmer over medium, to medium-high heat. Gently simmer sauce three to four minutes. Add the bell pepper and bamboo shoots and simmer two minutes more.
Add the six to eight Thai basil leaves and prawns to the pot. Return to a simmer and cook three to four minutes more, or until the prawns are cooked through, and then serve.
Green Curry Paste
If you have a green Thai curry recipe that calls for green curry paste, instead of store-bought, use this homemade version that you make with a mortar and pestle.
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: A few minutes
Makes: About 1鈦�2 cup
2 tsp coriander seeds
1鈦�2 tsp cumin seeds
1鈦�2 tsp white peppercorns
16 small, thin (about 2 inches long) green Thai chili peppers
1 tsp salt
16 medium to large fresh
Thai basil leaves
3 Tbsp finely minced lemongrass
1 Tbsp thinly sliced cilantro stems
1 Tbsp peeled and finely grated galangal
1 tsp finely grated lime zest
3 Tbsp minced shallots
2 Tbsp minced garlic
Place the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and white peppercorns in a small skillet and set over medium heat. Heat spices until lightly toasted and aromatic, about two to three minutes.
Place the spices in your mortar and pestle and pound into a powder. Transfer ground spices to a small bowl and set them aside for now.
Thinly slice eight of the chilies and place them in your mortar and pestle. Cut the other eight chilies in half, lengthwise. Scrape out and discard the seeds from those chilies. (Removing the very spicy seeds from half of the peppers will make the paste a little less fiery.) Thinly slice those seeded chilies and put them in your mortar and pestle.
Add the salt and 1鈦�3 of the pounded spices to the chilies; now, pound the chilies into a paste. Add the basil and pound it into a paste.
Add the lemongrass, cilantro stems, galangal and lime zest and pound them into a fine paste.
Finally, add the shallots and garlic and keep pounding until all ingredients are a fine paste. Transfer the paste to a small jar, tightly seal and keep refrigerated until ready to use to flavour a curry.
It will keep at least a week. You could also freeze the paste for up to three months.
Eric Akis is the author of The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
[email protected]
