MY THAI!

One of my absolute staple dishes for healthier eating is a Thai curry. I love the fragrant flavors that they have and the good thing is that once you have the base recipe down you can interchange the type of paste you use so you will never get bored with the taste.

Now it isn't my most healthiest dish by a long shot but it's still better than a Big Mac and fries at the end of the day. I would have one as a bit of a treat compared to the more lower cal dishes I have the rest of the week.

 

 Onto the paste, I am yet to try making my own but I think that the supermarket pastes are just as good! If you don't like the spice always go for a green paste. I am one for the spice though so I love a red curry and my recommendation from all the paste I've tried is the Tesco Ingredients red Thai curry  paste. It's not the cheapest paste you can get but if your up for treating yourself and splash out on a jar. I can get a bout three curries out of it and it really packs a punch! 

Another tip from me for padding out your curry for hardly any calories is by adding some water chestnuts. You can get these (much cheaper!) Kingfisher tins in most supermarkets in the Asian section and they give a nice crunchy texture to your dish when added in chopped at the end. Plus - they are so low cal it's redonkulous!! 

My last Thai tip: if like me you don't like the sharpness of adding lime juice to your Thai curry which is often called for in recipes then add two-three kaffiar lime instead. They are a lot easier to locate now than they used to be and can be found in most specialist food sections of major supermarkets. They add a much more subtle citrus flavor to the curry rather than the tang of lime juice.

Fish Sauce - I like it, a lot of people don't. It's not essential to the recipe so only add it if you like the taste. 

 My recipe below is so quick and once you have cracked it, it's so quick and simple that you'll be rustling it up all the time. I promise! I'm using Quorn pieces in my curry, if you want to use chicken just swap it out, no biggie!

Thai Curry

2 Onions - Diced

2 Garlic Cloves

4cm Piece of Ginger (Get your ruler out!)

3 Tbsp Curry Paste (Choose your weapon of choice)

2 Carrots, Peeled and Chopped

2 Peppers, De seeded and Chopped

200g Quorn Pieces

1 Tbsp Fish Sauce (Entirely Optional!)

400g Light Coconut Milk 

1 Tbsp Coriander Leaf

1 Tin Water Chestnuts

 

1. Get some oil warmed up in a medium pan and lash in your chopped onions with the garlic and ginger grated in too. Fry until the onions are just going soft.
2. Add in the 3 Tbsp of curry paste and mix it up for around 1 minute so the onion is all coated.
3. Throw in your carrots, pepper and Quorn pieces and fry for around 2 minutes.
4. Add in the fish sauce (if you want!) and the coconut milk. Mix up all the ingredients to get that yummy sauce going. 
5. Pour in 200ml water and bring to the boil
6. Throw on the coriander and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes - use this time to prepare your rice/noodles to serve
7. After ten minutes, chop up the water chestnuts and throw into the mix. Up the heat a smidge and simmer for another five minutes and serve.

 

The great thing about this recipe is that you can mix it up to keep it fresh. So add chunky veg like courgettes/aubergine at the carrot stage or add frozen peas/sweetcorn at the simmer stage. To really bulk up the dish throw in some beansprouts at the water chestnut stage. This refresh of the recipe makes sure you don't get bored of it, the same way that mixing up the paste you use would.

 Enjoy my Thai Curry! - a taste of Asia that's healthy and most of all delicious!