Simple Vegetable Curry

Vegetable curry is always one of the daily dishes you can find at the Vegetarian stalls. In fact cooking this is very simple. This is a light and simple vegetable curry using only cabbage, long bean and tofu puff. If you like the veggie to be softer, cook it a bit longer till it is tender. If you prefer it to be more robust, you may want to use more oil to fry the curry paste till there is a layer of red chilli oil or also by using more coconut milk. If you prefer to add egg-plants and lady fingers, just add them in. If you want to have lovely coloured egg-plants or long bean, you can consider blanching them in oil and wash with water prior to adding to the curry after the curry is cooked.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 300g cabbage, cut into 3cm squares
° 100g long bean, cut into 5cm lengths
° 6-8 tofu puff, cut into 4 sections
° 1-2 sprigs curry leaves
° 1-2 stalk lemongrass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 5cm, bruised
° 1 slice ginger (1-2cm thick)
° 375ml water
° 125ml coconut milk
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° salt and sugar, to taste

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pot or wok, fry the curry leaves for ½ minutes. Add in the curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Throw in the cabbage, long bean, tofu puff, lemongrass, ginger, water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Add in the coconut milk and season to taste with salt and sugar.
4. Serve hot with rice.