Eco Lesbo Vego

Friday Feast: Creamy Red Curry

February 6, 2009 at 5:26 pm 1 comment

One day Yankee Elv decided that the Chana Masala she was making just wasn’t going to cut it for her. She wanted another curry as well. So I tried to find one on the internet that we could make using whatever we had in the house. Although I found plenty that were mostly good, none of them really worked for me. So I made one up. Invented it from scratch (yes, I have moments of awesome, admittedly far and few between)… and it turned out SO well! Many noms.

I used Lamyong soy nuggets. Soy nuggets are our favourite fake meat – possibly because they don’t taste meaty and have a nice chewy texture. Lamyong is an Australian company that sells vegetarian products. They whup Sanitarium‘s arse and don’t get a tax break for being a church-run company, so I like them. You can buy their products in Asian supermarkets and some restaurants (like Tea Master or City Wok). If you can’t get Lamyong, use any faux chicken type of thing you can find – gluten or mushroom based would also work well I think. You could also use tofu or beans.

Creamy Red Curry

Ingredients
300g Lamyong soy nuggets
2 large carrots, cut into 5cm long sticks (try to get the thickness even so they cook evenly)
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tabs vegan margarine
2 tabs plain flour
vegetable oil (for frying)
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup water
2 tabs tomato paste
1 onion, very finely diced
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1 & 1/2 tsps turmeric
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
handful of sultanas (optional, but super yummy)

Method
1. Fry soy nuggets in a non-stick frying pan until defrosted and slightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Make a bechamel sauce (yeah, I know it’s Indian food, but trust me on this):
a) In a small saucepan, melt the vegan margarine.
b) Add the flour and stir rapidly to combine, ensuring there are no lumps.
c) Add 1/4 cup of soy milk, stirring continuously to combine and thicken.
d) Add the other 1/4 cup of soy milk and repeat.
e) Once mixture has thickened considerably, remove from heat.
f) Continue stirring for one minute as the pan cools. Set aside. (It may be a bit oily, if you dislike this, reduce amount of margarine).
3. In a large pot or pan over a medium heat, fry onion until soft. While frying the onion and garlic, measure out spices onto a bowl or plate.
4. Add garlic to the pan and fry for about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to low.
5. Pour spices into onions and garlic and stir fry to combine. Cook for several minutes. Do not allow spices to burn!
6. Add tomato paste and coconut milk and stir to combine. Cook for several minutes.
7. Add bechamel sauce (which will have thickened quite a bit now that it’s cool). Mix very well to combine. The sauce may need to reduce in viscosity over the heat, so just keep stirring until it’s combined.
8. Simmer on a low heat for about 3 mins, stirring occasionally. Try to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pot.
9. While the sauce is simmering, fry the carrot sticks in a separate pan to partially cook.
10. Add carrots to the sauce and stir in well.
11. Add water to the sauce and combine.
12. Simmer uncovered over a low heat for two minutes, then cover and continue simmering for 5 minutes.
13. Add soy nuggets and sultanas (if using) and simmer, covered, for a further 5 mins.
14. Serve with basmati rice. Yum!

Entry filed under: Friday Feast. Tags: curry, faux meat, fruit, recipe, vegetables.