Dried Green Curry Udon

I had cooked this dish "It's OK to be Wrong" Dried Green Curry Udon before but was a failure. Finally, I gave it another try it. Slightly better than the previous creation. In fact, some deep-fried tofu mini cube or toasted tempeh cube or mushroom or young corn can be added. Replace the udon with pasta, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 pack (200g) udon noodle, blanched
° 20g basil leaves
° 1 kaffir lime leave (optional)
° 1 tablespoon green curry paste
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 125ml fresh coconut milk or soy milk
° salt to taste
° 2 dried chilli, sliced and pan fried/toasted

Method
1. Combine the basil leaves and coconut milk in a blender and blend. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the green curry paste, kaffir lime leaves and fry till fragrant.
3. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt.
4. Add in the udon and mix well.
5. Garnish with dried chilli and serve immediately.

King Oyster Green Curry

Just a simple pot of green curry with king oyster mushroom which anyone can cook! King oyster mushroom resembles the chicken meat texture and full of nutrients too, and therefore cooked King Oyster Green Curry instead of Green Curry Chicken. Red chilli and tomatoes are added to give it some bright colour. The brand - “Pantainorasingh” contain garlic and therefore not suitable for Buddhist Vegetarian.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 250g king oyster mushroom, cut into chunk
° 1 tomatoes, halved
° 250g “Pantainorasingh” green curry paste, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 2-3 kaffir lime leaves
° 125ml water
° 125ml fresh coconut milk or soy milk
° small handful basil leaves
° 2 fresh red chilli, seeded and pan fried
° salt and sugar to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add green curry paste and fry till fragrant.
2. Add in the mushroom and fry for a minute.
3. Throw in the water and bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes or until the mushroom are tender. Add in the tomatoes, lime leaves, basil leaves and coconut milk.
4. Garnish with chilli, basil leaves and serve hot with rice.

Curry Lo Shi Fun

Yesterday, I was trying to teach my boy how to cook a curry noodle. Since, this is his first try, I made the recipe real simple, no fuss and just a notch up from cooking instant noodle. Standing beside him, giving all the instructions and without a few minutes we have 2 bowls of piping hot Curry Lo Shi Fun.

Ha., boys can cook too! I remember teaching ‘Teach Me To Fish’ programme in Catholic High Primary, which was organized by the Parents Support Group. Look at the primary school boys, they love the cooking sessions so much. For 2008, the programme for P6, was teaching “How to fry an egg” and I brought something extra – noodle and veggies, just in case we have too much time left as the class only had 22 pupils.

So at the end, I got Gabriel and Felix do a simple Stir-fried Noodle with Veggies and the noodle was shared among their classmates. Brandon thought that the noodle was cooked by me and told me it was delicious. When I told him, it was done by his classmates, he just could not believe it! What I enjoy most was, how these young gentlemen do the cooking, so engrossed and dedicated … And they really enjoy what they had cooked.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 300g Lo Shi Fun, blanched
° 5-6 fried bean curds, blanched and sliced
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° 20 curry leaves (optional)
° 250ml water or vegetable stock
° 500ml unsweetened soy milk
° 1-1½ tablespoons olive oil
° salt to taste
° granulated mushroom bouillon (optional), to taste

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with 3 tablespoons of water to form curry paste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick wok. Add in the curry leave and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Pour in water, unsweetened soy milk, fried bean curds and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and granulated mushroom bouillon.
4. Divide Lo Shi Fun into individual serving bowls. Ladle the soup and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Curry Mock Abalone

In 1988, when my mother went vegetarian on the 1st and 15th of the lunar calendar, we just followed her vegetarian diet. Sometimes, we will have vegetarian curry mock abalone as one of the vegetarian dishes. Back in the 80s, we could purchase canned curry vegetarian mock abalone from the supermarket.

I can’t remember when, when this canned food was no longer sold in the supermarket. I was searching for it for many years, one day I found one can of it exactly like what I had as a teenager in a local supermarket and after which no more. Weird things do happen to me sometimes which I can’t really explain how they happened.

Never had I thought of recreating this until few days back I was thinking what recipes I can derive using canned vegetarian food. After all, it is not difficult at all and I use unsweetened soy milk which I believe the canned curry vegetarian mock abalone doesn’t have. I omitted any seasoning, as the mock abalone is already tasty even discarding the liquid sauce.

The ingredients of canned Vegetarian Mock Abalone are Fried Gluten, Sugar, Salt and Soy Sauce. On a closer look on the can, it even states – “Good source of protein”. This is one of the foods that I stock up at home for any emergency.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 can vegetarian mock abalone, drained
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), or to taste
° 3 tablespoons water
° 20 curry leaves (optional)
° 125ml unsweetened soy milk
° 1-1½ tablespoon olive oil

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with 3 tablespoons of water to form curry paste and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a non-stick wok. Add in the curry leave and fry for half a minute. Stir in curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Pour in unsweetened soy milk, vegetarian mock abalone and bring to a boil.
4. Serve immediately.

Quick Curry Sauce

I read a question asking for curry sauce somewhere and I given a reply for whipping up a quick curry sauce without actually trying out. Few days ago, I gave it a try and it turns out well. So, if you need some curry sauce for the instant roti prata or plain rice within 5 minutes, here is might be the recipe. I added instant mashed potatoes to it to thicken the sauce and for some flavour.

Preparation: 5 mins Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional), or to taste
° 125ml water
° 125ml coconut milk or unsweetened soy milk
° 1-1½ teaspoon instant mashed potatoes
° ¾ tablespoon olive oil
° salt 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 non-stick wok. Add in the curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Pour in the water and coconut milk and bring to a boil.
4. Add in the instant mashed potatoes and give it a stir. Season to taste with salt and serve.

Curry Tofu Cubes

This is another way to cook tofu or beancurd. If you consume garlic or shallot, you can get these “heat-up” curry tofu cubes from the supermarket. Otherwise, you can whip it up, it is rather simple. Substitute curry leaves with lemongrass, if desired or totally omit them if you could not get these herbs.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 1 firm tofu/beancurd (225g), pat dry, cubes and deep-fried/pan-fried.
° 1 sprig curry leaves
° 100ml-125ml water
° 100ml-125ml coconut milk
° 1 tablespoon curry powder
° 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 tofu, water, coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season to taste with salt and sugar.
4. Simmer for 5-8 minutes or until the gravy is slightly dry.
5. Serve hot with rice.

Chayote and Pumpkin Green Curry

Chayote - pronounced [chah-YOH-teh], is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family can be eaten raw or cooked. In this recipe, I use chayote and pumpkin as the main ingredients to cook green Thai curry. It is my first time eating this plant. Next, I might try out stir-frying chayote and pumpkin with basil leaves. Check out other ways of cooking chayote @ mummyrecipes.blogspot.com - Fou Shou Gua with Dong Fen & Tofu with Vegetables .

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 150g pumpkin (weight after peeling), diced
° 150g chayote, peeled and diced
° 1 small firm tofu(beancurd), cut into cubes and deep-fried/pan-fried
° 50g “Earthen Pot” green curry paste, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon olive oil
° 1 stalk lemongrass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 5cm, bruised
° 2-3 kaffir lime leaves
° 125ml water
° 125ml fresh coconut milk or soy milk
° small handful basil leaves
° 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and cut into large pieces
° salt and sugar to taste

Method
1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the lemongrass, green curry paste and fry till fragrant.
2. Stir in the pumpkin, chayote and fry for a minute.
3. Throw in the water and bring to a boil. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add in the lime leaves, basil leaves, tofu and coconut milk. Season to taste with salt and sugar if necessary.
4. Garnish with chilli and serve hot with rice.

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.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Curry

I had broccoli and Cauliflower Curry served in claypot at few hotels’ cafes in Malaysia and I just love it. It is simple and yet delicious. I regretted not remembering this dish when I was having it. Now, I am trying real hard to re-create this dish. If you prefer the curry sauce to be slight thicker, just mashed few pieces of cooked potato and stir in.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g broccoli florets, blanched
° 125g cauliflower florets, blanched
° 100g potato, peeled and diced
° 25g carrot, peeled and diced
° 1 lemongrass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre and bruised
° 200ml water
° 1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
° 10-15 curry leaves
° 1 tablespoon curry powder, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon chilli powder, or to taste
° 125ml coconut milk
° salt to taste
° 1 teaspoon sugar (optional), or to taste

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan, fry the curry leaves for half a minute. Stir in the curry paste and fry until fragrant.
3. Add in the potatoes, carrot, lemongrass, water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season with salt and sugar.
4. Off the fire and throw in the broccoli and cauliflower. Mix well and serve hot.

Vegetarian Ipoh Curry Mee

Ipoh Curry Mee is noodle in light, hot and spicy curry gravy which is orange red in colour and served with mint leaves and half fresh lime. It goes with shredded chicken or pork meat, pork skin, prawns, fish cakes/balls, prawns, fried beancurd, and assorted vegetables like long beans. I had a bowl of Vegetarian Ipoh Curry Mee and I tried to re-create the recipe by using unsweetened soy milk to replace coconut milk and reduce the amount of oil used in stir-frying the curry paste and therefore there will not be orange red curry gravy with a little layer of red chilli oil on top. Use Carotino oil to add a tint of red to the curry, if desired.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 100g egg plant/brinjal/aubergine , sliced or cut into 5cm lengths
° 75g yard bean/long bean, cut into 5cm lengths
° 75g oyster mushrooms
° 6-8 small beancurd puffs
° 15 curry leaves
° 1 lemongrass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 5cm, bruised
° 2 tablespoons curry powder
° 1 teaspoon chilli powder
° 600ml unsweetened soy milk
° 2 tablespoons carotino oil or vegetable oil
° salt to taste
° sugar (optional), to taste
° 200g hokkien mee, blanched
° 40g beanspouts, tailed and blanched
° few spring mint leaves
° 1 kalamansi lime, halved

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan, fry the curry leaves for half a minute. Stir in the curry paste and fry until fragrant.
3. Stir in egg plant, oyster mushrooms, soy milk, lemongrass and bring to a boil. Throw in long beans, beancurd puff and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and sugar.
4. To serve, divide beansprouts, hokkien mee, mint leaves between serving bowls. Ladle the curry into individual serving bowls and serve hot with lime.

Green Curry Udon

Green Curry with Udon

Green Curry with Lotong Rice

By using the commercial Thai Green Curry paste, making a pot of curry can be so simple and quick. If you do not like tomatoes to be too soft, add it in later. No kaffir lime leaves and basil leaves, just omit it, however these herbs really spice up this curry. Usually green curry goes with plain rice. For this recipe, I used it as a soup base for Japanese udon noodle.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 2 packs (400g) udon noodle
° 2-3 tablespoons “Earthen Pot” green curry paste, or to taste
° 250ml water
° 250ml fresh coconut milk or soy milk
° 150g eggplants(aubergine), cut into bite-sized pieces
° 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
° 1 small firm tofu(beancurd), cut into cubes and deep-fried
° 4 young corns, halved
° 1 fresh green chilli, seeded and cut into large pieces
° 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and cut into large pieces
° 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
° small handful basil leaves, shredded
° salt and sugar, to taste

Method
1. Place the udon in a pot or wok of lightly salted boiling water and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Drain the noodle thoroughly and divide among 2 individual serving bowls. Set aside.
2. Throw in the coconut milk, green curry paste, eggplants, tomatoes, tofu, corn, water in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add in the chilli, lime leaves and basil leaves. Season to taste with salt and sugar.
3. Ladle the curry into individual serving bowls and serve immediately.

Vegetarian Thai Green Curry

Vegetarian Thai Green Curry (using Soy Milk)

By using commercial curry paste, making a pot of curry can be so simple. For this Thai Green Curry recipe, you may use other vegetables such as cauliflower, okra, carrot. I have reduced the amount of coconut milk used by diluting with water. Alternatively, you might use fresh soy milk to replace the coconut milk, if desired. For this quick curry, I had omitted the stir-fry of the curry paste and it is pretty easy to cook and taste good.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 250ml fresh coconut milk or soy milk
° 2 tablespoons “Earthen Pot” green curry paste, or to taste
° 125ml water
° 100g eggplants(aubergine), cut into bite-sized pieces
° 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
° 100g bamboo shoot, sliced
° 2 small firm tofu(beancurd), cut into cubes and deep-fried
° 4 young corns, halved
° 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
° 1 fresh green chilli, seeded and cut into large pieces
° 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and cut into large pieces

Method
1. Throw in the coconut milk, green curry paste, eggplants, tomatoes, bamboo shoot, tofu, corn, water in a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add in the lime leaves. Season to taste with salt, sugar or light soy sauce, if necessary.
2. Garnish with chilli and serve hot with rice.

Vegetarian Lontong

Lontong is pressed rice cakes serves with vegetables in coconut gravy or sayur lodeh. Serondeng (crispy spicy grated coconut with sambal chilli) is added. This malay dish is commonly enjoyed by all races in Singapore. This is a vegan version where hardboiled egg is omitted. Shallots can be added to the spice paste, if desired.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 small firm tofu/beancurd, cut diagonally into 4 section and deep-fried
° 80g long beans, cut into 5cm section
° 50g carrot, peeled and cut into 5cm section
° 80g yam bean, peeled and cut into 5cm section
° 80g white cabbage, cut into small pieces
° 375ml water
° 125-150ml coconut milk
° ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
° 2 teaspoons sugar, or to taste
° 300g pressed rice cake, steamed and cut into wedges

Spice Paste
° 2 fresh red chilli, seeded and chopped
° 2 red chilli padi (optional), seeded and chopped
° 1 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 7.5cm, chopped
° 2 candlenuts, chopped
° ½ teaspoons vegetarian belacan powder

Serondeng
° 50g grated coconut
° ½ teaspoon vegetarian sambal chilli
° pinch of salt
° ½ teaspoon sugar

Method
1. Mix all the ingredients for the serondeng in a bowl and bake in the toaster oven until golden and crispy. Set aside
2. Grind chilli, lemongrass and candlenut into fine spice paste. Stir in vegetarian belacan powder and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a pot or wok, fry the spice paste for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the vegetables bean curd and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all the vegetables are tender. Season to taste with salt and sugar. Stir in the coconut milk and bring to a boil.
4. To serve, divide rice cake between serving bowls. Ladle the gravy into individual serving bowls. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of serondeng on top and with some vegetarian sambal chilli at the side. Serve hot.

Curry Potatoes Noodle

Before I converted to a vegetarian, my mother used to cook curry chicken with potatoes and serve with noodle instead of rice. I like the curry gravy, the noodle and the potatoes. To satisfy my craving for my mom’s cooking, I recreated this dish – the vegetarian version. In fact, it tastes equally good without any meat or mock meat.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g-200g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
° 50g vegetarian meat or vegetarian stewed muttons
° 50g carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
° 15 curry leaves
° 2 tablespoons curry powder (meat blend)
° 1 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
° ½ cinnamon stick
° 2 lemongrass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 7.5cm, bruised
° 150ml coconut milk
° 500ml water
° 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
° 1 teaspoon salt
° 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
° 200g hokkien mee, blanched
° 40g beanspouts, tailed and blanched

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, fry the curry leaves for half a minute. Stir in the curry paste and fry until fragrant.
3. Stir in potatoes, carrot, vegetarian meat, water, cinnamon stick, lemongrass and simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Season with salt and sugar.
4. To serve, divide beansprouts, hokkien mee between serving bowls. Ladle the curry into individual serving bowls and serve hot.

Tip
1. To thicken the curry gravy, mashed one or two pieces of cooked potatoes and mixed well with the gravy. Alternatively, thicken with cornsflour mixture.

Simple Eggplant Curry

Tired of steaming, stir frying eggplant (aubergine or brinjal) and at the same time want curry in a hurry. Here is a real simple recipe for you.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 300g egg plant, cut into 1 cm slices
° 1 sprig curry leaves
° 1-1½ tablespoon curry powder
° 1-½ teaspoon chilli powder
° 1- 1½ tablespoons oil
° 160ml water
° salt, to taste
° sugar (optional), to taste
° 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and cut into section

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 until fragrant. Add in the curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Throw in the eggplants and stir fry for 1 minute. Stir in the water, salt, sugar and simmer for 3-5 minutes until the gravy is thicken or the eggplants are tender.
4. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chilli and serve immediately.

Curry Fried Rice

If you love curry, this is another curry dish, curry fried rice. It is easy, simple and anyone can just whip up without any problem. I prefer not to use overnight leftover rice for my fried rice dish, as I always feel that is not that healthy. I would rather cook the rice early in the morning or many hours before hands.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, cooked
° ¾ tablespoon vegetable curry powder
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
° 4 sprigs curry leaves
° 100g frozen mixed vegetable
° 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
° salt, to taste

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan, fry the curry leaves for half a minute. Stir in the curry paste and fry until fragrant over medium heat.
3. Stir in the cooked rice, mixed vegetables and season with salt. If it is too dry, sprinkle some water on it. Fry about 2-3 minutes or until rice is heated through. Serve hot.

Tip
1. Rice for frying must be cooked at least 2 hours in advance or the night before.
2. Oil for frying the curry paste should be heated to the right temperature and maintained at a steady heat until the curry spices have release their flavour, without burning.

Vegetarian Fish Curry

Vegetarian Fish Curry is simple vegetable curry with vegetarian fish added which can be optional. It is spicy and taste a bit sour and either served as a side dish or with rice as a light lunch.

Preparation: 15 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 2-3 (100-150g) vegetarian fish slices, pan-fried
° 100g egg plant, sliced
° 2 tomatoes, quartered
° 4 lady’s finger/okra, trimmed and cut into section
° 1 fresh red chilli, seeded and cut into section
° 1 fresh green chilli, seeded and cut into section
° 4 small beancurd puffs (optional)
° 1 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 5cm
° 1-2 sprigs curry leaves
° 1-1½ tablespoon curry powder (fish blend)
° 1-½ teaspoon chilli powder
° 2 tablespoons oil
° 50ml coconut milk
° 250ml water
° ¾ teaspoon assam paste, knead with 1 tablespoon water and strained
° salt and sugar, to taste
° 1 shallot (optional)
° 1 clove garlic (optional)
° ½ teaspoon vegetarian belacan (optional)
° 2 candlenuts

Method
1. Grind shallot, garlic, vegetarian belacan, candlenuts into fine spice paste and set aside.
2. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a pot or wok, fry the spice paste until fragrant. Add in the curry paste and fry over medium heat until fragrant.
4. Add in the water, lemon grass, curry leaves and egg plant. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5-10 minutes until the eggplants are slightly tender. Add in tomatoes, chilli, beancurd puff, lady’s finger and simmer for 3-5 minutes. Stir in coconut milk and assam juice. Season with salt, sugar and bring to a boil.
5. Lastly, add in the vegetarian fish slices and serve immediately with rice.

One-Pot Curry Rice

This is a quick and simple one-pot vegetarian rice dish recipe. Not much work is required and can be ready in just a moment.

Preparation: 10 mins, Cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 200g rice, washed and drained
° 100ml coconut milk
° 300ml water
° 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into chunks
° 4-6 vegetarian meats
° 1 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 7.5cm
° 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
° 1-1½ tablespoons vegetarian curry powder or curry powder (meat blend)
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 10 curry leaves (optional)
° ½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients into an electric rice cooker, mix well and turn it on.
2. When done, leave the cooked rice to rest, covered, for 5-10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve hot.

Tip
1. Carrot can be used to replace vegetarian meat, if desired.
2. Curry powder and chilli powder can be mixed with a tad of water to form curry paste, fry with one of tablespoon oil and then added to the rice.

Vegetarian Sayur Lodeh (Indonesian Vegetable Curry)

Sayur Lodeh is a popular dish in Indonesia. This vegetarian version Sayur Lodeh stews in reduced coconut milk or unsweetened soy milk can be used as a substitute, if desired. The spice paste used is adapted from the laksa paste.

Preparation: 30 mins, Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 75g French beans, trimmed and cut into 3cm strips
° 100g egg plants, sliced
° 50g carrot, peeled and diced
° 100g cabbage, cut into 3cm squares
° 1 (225g) firm tofu (beancurd), deep-fried and cut into 4 pieces
° 250ml-300ml water
° 125ml-150ml coconut milk
° ¾ teaspoon curry powder (optional)
° salt and sugar, to taste

Spice Paste (makes 75g)
° 6 dried chilli, chopped
° 3 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers, cut out 7.5cm, chopped
° 25-30g fresh blue ginger (galangal), chopped
° ¾ thumb-sized fresh turmeric, chopped
° 2-3 candle nuts, chopped
° 1½ teaspoons vegetarian belacan
° 5-6 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying
° ½ teaspoon salt
° 1 teaspoon sugar

Method
1. Grind spice paste ingredients until fine and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan. Add the laksa paste and fry for 10 minutes or until thickened and fragrant.
3. Add all the ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes or until all vegetables are tender. Season with curry powder, salt and sugar to taste.
4. Serve hot with rice or bead.

Tip
1. Unsweetened soy milk can be used to replace coconut mil but should be added last just before serving, if desired.
2. Spice paste can be made in advanced or more and keep refrigerated for up to 7-10 days.

Vegetarian Opor Ayam (Coconut Chicken Curry)

Opor Ayam is a tasty braised chicken in coconut milk dish from Indonesia. For this vegetarian version, potatoes are added instead of using all vegetarian meat.

Preparation: 5 mins Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-3)
° 200g potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
° 50g vegetarian meat
° 1 stalk lemon grass, peel off outer layers leaving tender whitish centre, cut out 7.5cm
° 2 kaffir lime leaves
° 1 tablespoon curry powder (meat blend)
° ½ teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
° 250ml coconut milk
° 150ml water
° 1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
° 1 teaspoon salt
° 1 teaspoon sugar

Method
1. Mix the curry powder and chilli powder with a tad of water to form curry paste.
2. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan, fry the curry paste until thickened and fragrant. Add 2 tablespoons coconut milk and fry for 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in potatoes, vegetarian meat, lemon grass, lime leaves, coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
4. Add salt and sugar and cook till the gravy is slightly thickened. Serve hot with rice.