Vegan Thai red curry

Working with The University of Sheffield

Season: AutumnSummer

Just the thought of a fragrant Thai curry sets the mouth watering. The beauty of this recipe – by the BOSH! team, Henry Firth and Ian Theasby – is that you can be pretty flexible with the summer veg elements, guided by your veg box (of course!).

Of the veg listed, we’d say tomatoes and mushrooms are vital to the balance of flavours. For the green component, if you don’t have mange-tout, use sliced French beans or finely sliced runner beans (pre-cooked). You could added shredded curly kale at the last minute too. One pepper, not two, is fine – maybe add a chopped courgette instead. Try some tinned bamboo shoots if you can’t get hold of seasonal baby corn.

Homemade curry paste is unbeatable and this quantity is enough for three meals (serving four each).

Reminding our lovely customers that you can order fresh organic garlic, ginger, chillies and limes, and tins of organic coconut milk, as extras for your veg box. Head to our online shop.

Ingredients

CURRY PASTE (makes 300g):

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp coriander seeds

2cm piece fresh ginger

5 shallots

5 garlic cloves

2 lemongrass stalks

3 fresh red chillies

1 red bird’s eye chilli, optional

1 tsp black peppercorns

½ a roasted red pepper from a jar

2 tbsp tomato purée

3 kaffir lime leaves

½ lime

10g fresh coriander (plus extra for garnish)

2 tsp salt

50ml water

VEG:

1 red pepper

1 green pepper (or a courgette)

50g mangetout (or green beans)

200g mushrooms

160g baby/cherry tomatoes

60g baby corn (fresh or tinned), or tinned bamboo shoots

1 fresh red chilli

Half a 425g tin lychees, optional

OTHER STUFF:

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 x 400ml tin coconut milk

150ml vegetable stock

1 tbsp palm sugar (or regular sugar)

2 tbsp agave syrup (or honey)

4 tbsp soy sauce

Method

Start with the curry paste. Scatter the cumin and coriander seeds over a wok and toast for 2 minutes. Peel the ginger and roughly chop. Peel and roughly chop the shallots. Peel the garlic.

Trim and roughly chop the lemongrass. Rip the stems from the chillies, removing the seeds if you prefer a milder sauce.

Put the toasted seeds, ginger, shallots, garlic and lemongrass into a liquidiser. Add the fresh red chillies, bird’s eye chilli (if using), peppercorns, roasted red pepper, tomato purée, lime leaves. Squeeze in the lime juice (avoiding pips). Add 10g fresh coriander, salt and a splash of water.

Whizz until smooth with no bits, adding up to 50ml of water to loosen it if necessary. Spoon 100g of the paste into a bowl. Set the rest aside to use another time (freeze it in batches of 100g).

Cut the red and green peppers in half. Remove stems and seeds, then cut into 2cm chunks. Rip the stems from two of the chillies, removing the seeds if you wish, and cut into slices. Slice the mushrooms and halve the baby corn.

Put the wok back on a high heat and add the oil. When hot, add the 100g curry paste and fry for 2 mins, until it deepens in colour and smells amazing. Pour in the coconut milk and veg stock. Stir well to mix everything together.

Add the sugar, agave syrup, soy sauce, peppers, chilli, mushroom, baby corn, tomatoes and mange-tout. If using lychees, drain them and add to the pan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 7–10 mins, until the veg are cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding salt or sugar as required.

Spoon the curry into bowls, garnish with coriander leaves and serve alongside white rice.