Vegetable Curry with Tofu
Delicious Curry Packed with Protein and Nutritious Vegetables!
I love curries! The reason why I love curries so much is because of the ingredients in the curry paste (e.g., chilies, galangal, shallot, lemongrass, coriander seeds, cardamom, etc.), as well as the addition of the sweet and salty notes (i.e., sugar and fish sauce). Without a doubt, it is truly is my “go-to” comfort food. I make curries so often that I have perfected my process of making these incredible dishes. And, of course, it is all about cooking with love!
My wife and I are both huge fans of vegetable curry. Since my wife loves tofu, I made the dish using this protein to provide her with a meal that she would enjoy at the end of a long week. This dish is packed full of protein and nutritious vegetables.
I love this dish because you get the “crunch” of all the beautiful veggies in a tasty red curry sauce. In addition, tofu is a great vessel to absorb the flavors from the curry. I also like this dish because of the array of colors in this recipe — the orange from the carrot, green from the broccoli, yellow from the baby corn, the translucent onion, and the white, water chestnuts against an orange canvass from the red curry infused with the coconut milk. It is truly a rainbow of colors!
When cooking the dish, the aromas that fill the house are just intoxicating! The fragrance of the curry paste and the kaffir lime leaves permeate the house with anticipation of the curry that is being prepared. As I stated in a previous article that I wrote on Choo Chee Pla, the good news is that a curry dish is very simple to prepare too! You can prepare this dish in less than a half-hour. This is what I call good food prepared quickly!
This dish is also versatile. If you are not a fan of tofu, you can substitute it with other proteins (e.g., fish, shrimp, pork, chicken, beef, etc.). You can also substitute with other vegetables, which is great because you can use the vegetables you have in your refrigerator/freezer or pantry.
This is a flavorful dish. If you are so inclined, please give this dish a try. Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
14 oz. firm tofu
2 tbsp. refined, coconut oil
2 oz. red curry paste
14 oz. coconut milk
8 oz. chicken broth
3 tsp. kaffir lime leaf powder (2 julienned kaffir lime leaves)
2 tbsp. light-brown sugar (could also use palm sugar or white sugar)
2 ½ tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. ground Thai chili pepper (adjust to your desired level of spiciness)
1 medium onion (sliced)
1 carrot (sliced)
8 oz. of broccoli
8 oz. of baby corn
8 oz. of water chestnuts
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepping the Tofu
· Open the package of tofu and place the tofu in a colander to release excess water from the tofu.
· Next, place the block of tofu in a zipped, gallon-size freezer bag.
· Press the tofu by using a pot, pan, or roller to release the water from the tofu; drain the water that has been released (I use a pot to press down on the freezer bag). Repeat once again so that you have pressed the tofu twice. The idea here is to dry the tofu as much as possible to utilize it in the curry.
· Cut the tofu into cubes, place in a container, and freeze for a couple of hours. Freezing the tofu will allow the tofu, upon thawing out, to better absorb the curry and allow for a firmer texture when cooking.
Curry
· Heat two tablespoon of refined coconut oil in a wok, or pot, over medium-high heat.
· Add the curry paste and cook until bloomed (becomes aromatic and starts to bubble). Cook for about 1 to 2 two minutes.
· Add half of the coconut milk and cook until the oil separates from the curry. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
· Add the remaining coconut milk, chicken stock, sugar, lime leaf powder, fish sauce, and chili (per your level of the desired spiciness). Bring to a boil, then simmer the curry over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
· Add the vegetables and cook for another 3 minutes.
· Add the tofu and cook for another 5 minutes.
· Plate and serve.
Notes
· Pressing the water out of the tofu is an important step. Do not skip this step.
· I have found that freezing the tofu, then allowing the tofu to thaw, produces firmer tofu that holds up better when cooking and allows the curry to better permeate the tofu. Since I only froze the tofu for a couple of hours, it does not take long to thaw. I simply thaw the tofu as I am beginning to cook and find that it works well. This technique also works well for stir-fry dishes.
· Many curry recipes utilize 2 oz. of curry paste (half of the 4 oz. can of curry paste). You can freeze the remaining 2 oz. of the paste (flattened in a quart-sized freezer bag and place it in the freezer). This is a great way to store any unused red curry paste—no need to even thaw it out. I simply put it into a pot when I am ready to cook; it thaws out very quickly.
