curry up!

the night before last, i made an old standby that both d and i hold near and dear to our hearts,

curry.
penang curry, at that.

i'm not sure why i hadn't made it in such a long time. maybe because we live off of a steady diet of krishna lunch during the week, or if it's slightly labor intensive (i end up using different pots to speed up cooking time), but either way it had been way too long.

this is a very versatile recipe. a wide variety of veggies and proteins can be used and every different combination always adds a little different flavor to the sauce. d's even modified it slightly so that he can make it when he takes groups camping.

this time, i used yellow squash, onion, and broccolli leftover from our trip to the farmer's market last week.

penang curry is a malaysian (not thai) dish that consists of red curry, coconut milk, and ground peanuts.

on to the recipe...

penang curry with coconut cilantro rice

start the rice first since it takes longer to cook. you'll need:

• 2 tablespoons oil (we use olive for almost everything, but vegetable or canola will do)
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 1 1/4 cups rice (try jasmine or batsmati)
• 2 cups vegetable stock
  
• 1 can of coconut milk (you won't need it all, use the rest for the curry sauce)
  
• fresh cilantro (it really does make it that much better)
  

for the curry:

• protein of your choice (tempeh and tofu do a great job of soaking up the curry flavor)
• veggies of your choice*
  
• a few leaves of basil (thai basil does especially well in this dish)
• the rest of the coconut milk
  
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
  
• a couple tablespoons of peanut butter, to taste (or bottled peanut sauce)
• red curry, to taste (we use pre-bought paste from the store and use it gratuitously, we both like it hot. about to make you cry hot.)
• a little dribble of oil

*you can use just about any veggie. i don't like peppers, but they're a standard in most versions of penang i've seen. other good candidates include: zucchini, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, baby corn, snow peas, etc.

remember: if you're planning on using a really thick or starchy vegetable (i.e. potatoes, carrots) you might want to steam them before you add them to the sauce. in this version, i sauteed the onions and squash, and lightly steamed the broccoli beforehand. nothing can ruin a good curry like a undercooked potato or a soggy piece of broccoli.

1. in a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat with the onions and garlic. once the onions are a little soft (not mushy). add the rice, mix to coat with oil, and let it cook for a couple minutes. add the stock and half the can of coconut milk and stir it up. bring to a boil for a couple minutes before reducing the heat to a simmer. let sit covered for 25-30 minutes, peeking in and stirring every so often.
2. while that's simmering, do any veggie/protein sauteeing or steaming necessary. get out a decent sized frying pan (or wok if you own one) and combine the curry paste, peanut butter, the vegetable stock, and whatever's leftover from the coconut milk used in the rice over medium heat. use a spatula to press the curry paste and peanut butter into the pan to break it up, and then stir it into the rest of the mixture. add veggies and protein and let it warm while the rice is still cooking.

at this point, my stove top looks like this (the kettle just lives there):

3. when the rice is done, stir in a handful of cilantro leaves.
4. to plate, put a couple scoops of rice in a bowl (we got these nifty ones from goodwill) and cover with curry sauce and goodies. garnish with cilantro, serve with chopsticks.

ta da!

<3
k