As a working mom, putting together a decent dinner becomes an arduous task most evenings. To make things worst you have an almost six year old who still thinks he is a toddler, next you have a teenager who thinks the six year old is his twin and to top it all a husband who still thinks he is a teenager😂. Jokes apart, a lot of days we do very easy stuff like bread and omelet or boiled egg sandwich or quick dosa with Molaga podi. But, when we are doing that repeatedly, the mom guilt kicks in and I think I should do better. I’m sure a lot of you are sailing in the same boat whether it is work or little kids or just any kind of lemons that life is throwing at you. When you have so much to deal with, a dinner quick fix can be a blessing in disguise.

The Thai veggie red curry is one such solution to my dinner dilemma. It has the goodness of coconut milk, the beautiful blend of spices, veggies to make it healthier, tofu for the protein and the flavor of basil taking it to another level. The entire curry along with the rice cooking simultaneously takes less than 30 minutes. If you have the red curry paste ready and veggies chopped and ready it’s 20 minutes max. Isn’t that cool? I also found this awesome readymade vegan red curry paste on Amazon- Maesri Thai Red Curry Paste – 4 oz (Pack of 8). If you are really pressed for time, it is a wonderful option and tastes fresh and as good as the one prepared from scratch. Here is what you will need to prepare this curry:
- 1 medium onion
- 1 colored bell pepper
- 1 small head broccoli
- 1 carrot
- 1 zucchini
- 8-10 baby corn
- 6-8 snap peas
- Tofu Salt
- Chili powder
- Sriracha sauce
- Soya sauce
- Balsamic Vinegar
- 13.5 fl oz/ 400 ml Coconut milk
- 4 oz Red curry paste/ 2 tablespoons if using homemade
- Thai Basil -8-10 leaves
Easy Thai Red Curry (Vegetarian and vegan)
Easy and delicious weeknight dinner ready under 30 minutes; suitable for vegetarians, vegans and is gluten free
Ingredients
- • 1 medium onion
- • 1 colored bell pepper
- • 1 small head broccoli
- • 1 carrot
- • 1 zucchini
- • 8-10 baby corn
- • 6-8 snap peas
- • Tofu Salt
- • Chili powder
- • Sriracha sauce
- • Soya sauce
- • Balsamic Vinegar
- • 13.5 fl oz/ 400 ml Coconut milk
- • 4 oz Red curry paste/ 2 tablespoons if using homemade
- • Thai Basil -8-10 leaves
Directions
- Step 1 1. Start by mixing the red curry paste in the coconut milk in a big bowl.
- Step 2 2. Once that is done, wash and chop the carrot lengthwise, cut the zucchini into moons, break the broccoli florets and wash them, finely slice the onions lengthwise, wash and chop or dice bell peppers. You literally don’t have to anything with the baby corn and snap peas
- Step 3 simply wash and toss them in.
- Step 4 3. Place a nice big size wok on the stove, add oil and the sliced onions.
- Step 5 4. Once, the onions are translucent, add all the veggies, 1/2 teaspoon of soya sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of sriracha sauce (use with caution if you don’t want the curry to be spicy) and 1/4 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.
- Step 6 5. While the veggies are cooking, I keep the rice and then slice the tofu and sauté it in a teaspoon of oil in a separate small pan. You can skip this and add tofu directly to the gravy. But, I personally think adding this step takes the taste to another level.
- Step 7 6. Now add the prepped coconut milk to the veggies. Add salt and a pinch of chili powder, if you like it spicy. If you want a milder curry skip the chili powder completely and use sriracha sauce also with caution. If you are using the recommended ready-made paste, I don’t think you need to add any extra salt also, so taste and add accordingly.
- Step 8 7. Once the gravy starts boiling, add the tofu and the thai basil and simmer the gas for 2-3 minutes. Enjoy with piping hot rice!
- Red chillies-8-10
- Shallots-2-3
- Garlic-4 cloves
- Galangal-2 teaspoons
- lemon grass-1 fresh stalk
- Kaffir lime-3
- Coriander seeds-2 teaspoons
- Cumin seeds-1/2 teaspoon
- Cardamom seed-1
- Whole black peppercorns-1 teaspoon
- Salt-1/2 teaspoon
- Coconut Sugar-1/4 teaspoon