Red Thai Curry

Thai is one of my favourite cuisines. Red and green thai curry is like the safest dish to order in any Thai restaurants. This dish I have been making since quite some time now.. its become like that dish I make when I want something to be quick to be out on the table and yet want something not so ordinary! Also its a nice dish to make when you have unexpected friends over! I always have a can of coconut milk in the pantry and most of the times I also have canned bamboo shoots and baby corn in the pantry or in the back of my fridge!! The freshnes sof the dish and its complex flavors comes from the basil leaves. If incase you dont have basil leaves, by all means use dried basil instead.

The best thing about this dish is you really dont need ANY measurements. Just eye ball everything! Add more or less of the veggies and chicken. Eliminate the chicken slices and fish sauce to make it completely vegetarian.

We usually have it with plain jasmine rice or jasmine rice infused with lemon/lime/orange zest. Or even with basmati rice if I don't have jasmine rice at home!!! Its sooo damn versatile :)

Ingredients:
1 can coconut milk
1 1/2 cup chicken broth/ veg broth / water
1 tspn soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (optional)
1/4 cup tofu, cubed (optional)
1/4 cup boneless chicken, sliced (optional)
1/2 tspn brown sugar (Use the usual sugar if you dont have brown sugar)
2 cups of assorted veggies of your choice
(I usually use mushrooms, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, bamboo shoots, baby corn)
1 1/2 - 2 tbspn red thai curry (You get this in any supermarket in the asian aisle)
6-7 basil leaves, torn
1 tbspn olive oil

Method:

• In a screaming hot wok, swirl the Olive oil on all side and add the chicken and stir till fully cooked
• Slide the cooked chicken on one side of the wok, and on the other side add the curry paste and saute in the oil for about 30 secs.
• Add the coconut milk slowly and dissolve the curry paste completely.
• Add the broth or water and stir.
  
• Once it starts boiling, add the sauces, sugar and salt if required.
• Immediately add the veggies and cook for not more than a min, or else they will get soggy.
• Add the basil and cook till it wilts.

Serve hot with rice and ENJOY! :)

Thai Drunken Noodles

I have such a back log of recipes over the weekend!! Will try and post them or else I might forget the recipes of the new stuff I tried. As it is, I am so not a person who cooks by measurements!! Its always eye balling.. If I feel, I make it more spicy or less spicy, more or less tangy and so on and so forth. But nowadays I have started to try and measure (again approximate as I will never use measuring spoons other than for baking!)... just for the blog. But it really is difficult! Hmm.. anywayz... back to the recipe!

As said in my earlier post, I wanted to try and make the drunken noodles that i had for the first time ever(!) in Krung Thai, Las Vegas. Well, my version didnt taste exactly the same, but OH MAN.. was it good!! All the tastes tied together... spicy, tangy, sweet and sour!!! It was one of my best creations! But let me warn you... it was SPICCCYYYY!!! On a scale of 1-5 for spiciness, it was 6.. hehehe!!! I guess one can decrease the spiciness by adding less chili flakes and green chillies.

I didnt get the dark color I was looking for... which I later thought might be coz of the absence of Oyster sauce which I didnt have on hand. If you add oyster sauce, do add less salt.

Ingredients:
4-5 oz Thai Flat Rice Noodles (I brought these from Trader Joes)
3/4 cup cubed tofu
1/4 cup diced or long slit boneless chicken
1/4 green bell pepper, sliced vertically
1/4 red bell pepper, sliced vertically

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tbspn chopped garlic
1/4 medium onion, chopped
2-3 green chillies, chopped

Marinade:
3 tbspn red chilli flakes
2 tbspn vinegar
2 tbspn fish sauce
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tspn sugar
1/2 tbsp fresh ground pepper
1 tspn Salt

1 1/2 tbspn soya sauce
1 tbspn Oyster Sauce (I didnt add it)
1/4 cup Basil leaves, chopped

Method:

• In a bowl, marinate the tofu with red chilli flakes, vinegar, fish sauce, lemon juice, sugar, ground pepper and salt.

• Spoon 3-4 spoons of the marinade and add to the chicken.

• Assemble all and keep aside for 1/2 an hr, so that the tofu and chicken soaks up on the flavors, or else the tofu will taste really bland.

• Boil enough water (to cover the noodles). As soon as it starts boiling, add **2 tbsp of salt and 1 tspn oil** to it and immediately add the flat noodles.
• Keep on stirring so that the noodles dont stick to each other. Cook for about 15 mins or till it is cooked el dante.
• Drain the noodles with cold water and set aside.
  
• Place a wok on high heat and swirl olive oil in the wok on all sides.
• Add the chopped garlic, onions, green chillies, cilantro and saute.
  
• Immediately add the chicken with its marinade and stir fry till it is cooked properly.
• Now add the tofu alongwith its marinade, vegetables, noodles, soya sauce and the basil leaves and stir well to bind all the ingredients.

Garnish with some more cilantro and/or basil leaves and serve.

Note:
** Salt is added, so that the noodles soak some salt flavor, or else it will be bland. Oil is added to minimize the sticking of noodles.
**You can make this dish vegetarian, by eliminating chicken and substituting fish sauce with soya sauce however the flavor wont be as robust.

Thai Fish Satay

Friday night dinners are usually out or we order in a pizza. This friday I did not want to eat out and no pizza either. I had this strong urge of eating thai. So thought would make simple... Chicken Satay and Red Thai curry with Jasmine rice. But as evening approached, I had this tempting need to taste the same spicy n tangy drunken noodles that I had in Vegas at Krung Thai!! I could actually taste them... hehe!

So I set out googling and after going through tonnssss of recipes, I made a rough sketch in mind how I would make mine!! As usual hubby dear asked me what I was preparing. When told about the drunken noodles.. he was like.. and what about appetizers???! I was like hmm... chicken satay maybe? He was like nah... feel like eating some fish!! Now I had no clue what thai appetizer I could make with fish! And I was already in the kitchen and had no time to google.

Hubby dear suggested I make something on my own.. get creative! He believes that when I try something new, it usually is nice. So I hesitantly decided to make Fish Satay... on the lines of Chicken Satay... but with a difference!

And it turned out amazingly goood!! Yuummooo :)

Ingredients:
All Approx
2 fish fillet (I used Tilapia)
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 1/2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Thai Red Curry
1/2 tbspn red chilli flakes
1 tbsp fish sauce
A pinch of sugar
Pinch of turmeric
6-7 Basil leaves, chopped
Salt & Pepper
4 tbspn water

Method:

• Marinate the fish with all the ingredients except basil.
  
• In a hot pan, add some olive oil and shallow fry the fish.
• When it turns crisp and brown, turn around and fry.
• After its done, place it on the serving dish.
• to make the sauce, add the leftover marinate and water in the pan and **deglaze the pan.
  
• Add basil and stir till the basil wilts and pour over the fish.

Enjoy!

Note:
**This means liquid is added to loosen and dissolve the brown bits and pan drippings at the bottom of the pan that form during cooking and basting. This pulls all the flavor possible out of the cooking process. Deglazing liquid is usually broth, a marinade, or wine. Deglazing is the first step when cooking many sauces.