This is a homage to Thai style curry, but using beans as the main protein source.
I don’t always have fresh chilli around, but almost always have dried. Don’t get hung up on having all the ingredients - just get as many as you can!
Curry paste:
1 bell pepper - red or green. Seeds removed.4 or 5 garlic cloves - not too big ones
2 fresh birdseye chillies (or 2 level tsp dried crushed chillis)
1 teaspoon of ground cumin. If you have seeds, add a teaspoon (I love cumin!)
1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander (ditto on seeds!)
Thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled (or 1 tsp ground ginger - but fresh is much better)
1/2 teaspoon of black peppercorns (or use freshly ground pepper)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
3 tablespoons good oil (I like Irish rapeseed)
Juice of 1 lemon
Juice and grated rind of 1 lime
1 tablespoon of maple or agave syrup
Easy instruction - Put everything in a blender and whizz to a smooth consistency.
Curry:
Chop a couple of medium onions and sauté for 5 minutes or so until translucent.
Add 2 chopped cloves of garlic and keep cooking for another minute or so.
Pour in your curry paste and stir in. Add a can of coconut milk - make sure that you get all that cream! Add one medium potato, cut into bite sized chunks. Bruise two lemon grass stalks in several places with the back of your knife and add into the curry.
When the mix comes up to the boil, add in a couple of cans of beans - mixed, kidney, edamame, butter, whatever you have to hand. If you need more protein, add in some rough-chopped firm tofu.
Turn down the heat and get on with the rice.
Basmati rice:
Bring a large pot of water to the boil and add a couple of good pinches of salt - just as you would do for pasta. Add in 300g of dried Basmati rice (about 75g per portion). No need to rinse the rice beforehand. Give the rice a stir to prevent any sticking to the bottom of the pot.
While the rice is cooking, boil a kettle of water.After about 8-10 minutes, test the rice to see if it is al dente - soft but with just a little firmness. Strain off the cooking water and return the rice to the pot and add in the fresh boiling water. Strain again, return the rice to the pot, with a tea-towel or kitchen towel and put the lid back on. Leave to sit for 5 minutes.
Boiling the rice in a lot of water, rinsing after and then allowing to steam for a few minutes, results in a lovely light rice that does not clump or stick.
Serve the rice and curry together with some chopped green onions.