Thai Spiced Vegetable Brown Rice

Thai Spiced Brown Rice with exotic vegetables

Its been quite sometime now since I started brown rice. And let me tell you the transfer has not been easy. Those who are used to eating soft white rice dotted with pure ghee will tell you why.

Perfectly steamed gorgeously white rice is what it is because of what it is. Brown rice pales in front of it, literally. But I am girl on a mission. Mission to curb my growing waistline and lose some serious weight. So naturally I shun the shiny rice and ghee. Adopt the brown version and…my dal rice has never tasted the same again.

I have to add paneer 😉

I had to love what I embraced or I would be running back to my ex. So began my tryst with the healthier grain. Looking for ways to improvise it, I have tried innumerable options.
Sautéing mushrooms and zucchini in some thai red curry paste and throwing in brown rice, seemed like a bit of an experiment. But what an attempt! That bowl was supposedly my lunch, but he and she took great big bites and kept asking for more. Now that’s a good way to rate my dishes, don’t you think?

Something to drink with

The recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked.
• 1 medium sized onion, sliced thinly
• 3 tbsp red curry paste
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp vinegar
• 3/4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1/4 cup zucchini, sliced thinly
• 3 tbsp paneer small cubed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp olive oil or any oil you wish
• basil leaves and coriander leaves to garnish

Method

In a large skillet, heat oil. Saute garlic and onions till pink. Mix in the red curry paste. Fry till oil leaves the sides. Throw in the mushrooms and zucchini. Cover and cook till almost done. Mix in the brown rice along with soy and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Mix well. Garnish with cubed paneer, basil and cilantro leaves.

Best with something cold to sip on.

Simple and delicious

Note: Use any vegetable you like, carrots, broccoli, beans ..

Note: Instead of paneer, boiled soy Nutrela nuggets taste great.

Note: Adjust the quantity of red curry paste according to the heat you can take.

Note: Boiling brown rice has been a continuous trial and error process with me. One of the recent methods and almost close to getting perfectly cooked rice is to soak the rice well for at least 2 hours, and then cook in a large pot of salted boiling water. Once the rice is cooked, strain the excess water and use.

High on heat

If you have any more ideas to deal with brown rice, please holler. I am listening.

This is my entry to Angie’s Friday Fiesta #25. Sneak in to see some gorgeous recipes here. You will thank me for sure.

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Vegetarian Curry Laksa

Curry Laksa – veganised!

The craving was irrepressible.
But with the man travelling and child snubbing this divine curry noodles, I stalled the idea of dishing it up just for me. But then, it arose again… that insatiable appetite for one heavenly bowl of noodles, veggies, broth, herbs and tofu. I had to make it. Just had to.

Soul Food!

Curry Laksa is a Chinese inspired Malay spicy noodle soup. Originally made the non vegetarian way with a lot of chicken or fish or shrimp. It is basically coconut based curry spiced with oriental flavours like turmeric, soy and chilies, thick or thin noodles and garnished with laksa leaves or curry leaves. Indians will totally relate to the flavours and taste, because many of the ingredients used in this are regularly used in Indian cooking too.

Mushrooms and fried tofu in my Laksa

Ideally thick Hokkien egg noodles are preferred to dunk in a spicy vegetable laden stew, but if you cannot get your hands on some, use the regular variety. I used traditional thin hakka noodles. Some recipes call for thin rice vermicelli too.
Bottomline – It’s the curry that calls, the carb can be of any kind 😉

Spicy Earthy noodles

There are many different types of laksa, but what is common to all is the broth, spice paste and noodles. The most well known varieties of laksa are the slightly sour fish soup based Assam Laksa and the Curry Laksa which has coconut milk.

Curry Laksa is a meal in itself. You don’t need any accompaniments with it. Lot of vegetables, noodles and a protein like tofu or paneer and you are so good to go! The vegetables can be anything you like, anything your refrigerator caters. So don’t go hunting for the specifics. I just pretty much threw in whatever I had.

An interesting twist to this dish was to top with sautéed mushrooms and red onions. Dust it off with sesame seeds and it was the most heavenly first bite I have had in a very long time 🙂

Soupy Slurrpyy

The Recipe –

Ingredients

• 1 pack hokkein egg noodles, boiled as per instructions on the pack.
• 1 cup thin sliced vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, carrots, beans etc
• 3-4 tbsp red curry paste or as per your liking
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 stalks lemon grass
• a handful of curry leaves or if you can find laksa leaves
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil or sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar or brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder

Garnish: 5/6 basil leaves, few stalks of coriander leaves, 1/2 cup fried tofu or sautéed paneer pieces, 1/2 cup sautéed mushrooms and red onions. 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds, Lime wedges.

Method

In a wok, heat oil. Fry the red curry paste till the raw smells disappears. Now throw in the veggies, add a bit of salt. Cover and cook till almost done.
Add soy, turmeric, salt pepper, sugar. give a mix. Stir in the coconut milk. Once it has boiled. Stir in the vegetable stock. Simmer for 2/3 minutes or so. Throw in the curry leaves and lemon grass stalks Cover and boil for 5 minutes.

Delicious comfort food

How to Serve:

Remove the lemon grass stalks from the broth before serving.

Take a deep bowl. Place a forkful or two of noodles. Pour the vegetable-coconut broth. Top with some sautéed mushrooms and onions, some fried tofu or paneer. A sprinkle of sesame seeds. A drizzle of lime juice. Torn basil and coriander leaves to garnish.
Serve.

A drizzle of lime and a sprinkle of sesame

Note: For sautéing the mushrooms, onions and tofu. I sliced them thinly, gently sautéed in a bit of oil. Sprinkled salt and pepper powder. Hardly takes 5 minutes.

Note: Laksa is usually soupy and the noodles float in a water like broth. Now to make the soup, vegetable stock is preferred rather than plain water. Since I did not have any, I made a thick vegetable stew in coconut milk. It tasted more intense and enveloped my noodles well in a spicy tangy gravy.

all season food, this is.

The above is a not a perfect authentic recipe. I changed and customised it according to our likes and the ingredients available. So this recipe might just serve as a rough inspiration to cook the dish. So feel free to play around!

Happy Cooking dear readers 🙂

Ginger Scallion Red Curry Thai Noodles

Such a long name for a noodle which is so simple to put together.

Thai red curry ginger scallion noodles

Such is life. We complicate simple things. But then, if we don’t add drama to simplicity, what’s the fun huh?
I could just call it Noodles or maybe Scallion Noodles( to be more descriptive), but chances are you would have just ignored the post and carried on with something else. So, I try to elaborate. And I try to emphasize the Thai part. 🙂
We make traditional noodles all the time, but a Thai dish topped with toasted sesame and peanuts has the birthright to YELL out for attention. Yep. This simple dish is that awesome.

Scallions add flavor!

I did not add any vegetable apart from sweet corn( because that’s all I had in the refrigerator), and it took me less than 10 minutes to put it together(took more time to think of a name. wierd. Funny right?)

This meal was a last minute improvisation with what ever was left in my pantry, and the husband being bitten by the traveling bug, dinner was just for me and Milee.
Since I added red curry paste, I was doubtful of the heat that the noodle carried, so quickly made a cheese paratha for the child. But the final outcome was sooo good(and not too spicy) that Milee literally grabbed and made me swap dinner plates with her. Kids!

Red Curry Fire

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 cups boiled noodles, I used plain ones, but I believe egg noodles taste great in thai curry.
• 1/2 cup scallion/spring onion whites
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 2 tbsp red curry paste, or as much as you like
• 4 tbsp scallion/spring onion greens
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• salt to taste
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2-3 tbsp toasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
• 1-2 tsp sesame oil or peanut oil
• 1/2 cup sweet corn or any vegetable(mushroom/broccoli) – optional

Method

In a large wok, heat oil. Saute ginger garlic. Throw in the scallion whites and thinly sliced onions. If you are using any vegetable – add it now. Once almost done, mix in the red curry paste, soy sauce and salt. Saute on high for a minute or two. Quickly add the boiled noodles, salt and 3/4th of scallion greens. Throw in 3/4th of sesame seeds and peanuts saving some for garnishing. Switch the flame off. Mix well with gentle hands. Just before serving reheat in a microwave, garnish with leftover sesame, peanuts and scallion leaves. Serve hot!

How easy is that?!! 🙂

Toasted sesame and peanuts to garnish

So, the long name describes my supper best. Just ‘that’ is enough for you to guess and put the ingredients together. In between big mouthfuls of red curry noodles, some crisp cheese coriander paratha, mother daughter duo made some awesome memories and a wonderful-definitely-repeating recipe.

Life is simple. 🙂

Take a big bite