Thai Vegetable Curry

Ingredients

For the Curry Paste

Grind together:

1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp ginger
3 chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp coriander seeds
¼ cup water or coconut milk
For the Curry

1 sweet potato, cubed and cooked (I microwaved mine)
100g green beans (French beans), trimmed and cut in half
100g spinach, washed
1 small potato, cubed and cooked (again, I microwaved)
50g mushrooms, wiped and quartered
1 cup firm tofu, deep fried
1 onion, sliced lengthways
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 star anise (or 2 tsp star anise powder)
100g chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
4 tbsp peanut butter ( use ground peanuts if you like)
2 tsp cumin, ground
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
500ml coconut milk
1 to 2 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste
2 tbsp tamarind juice
1 tbsp maggi liquid seasoning
Salt to taste



Method

1. Grind up all the ingredients for the curry paste.

2. Heat the oil in a wok, add the curry paste and cook this on a medium heat until aromatic and when the oil separates from the paste. Add the peanut butter. Keep stirring and don’t let it burn.

3. Add the coconut milk, star anise, ground cumin, cardamom powder, sesame oil, dark soy sauce, sugar, maggi seasoning, salt, tamarind juice. Allow to simmer until it becomes a little thicker.

4. Add the tofu, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, onions and chickpeas. Simmer for five minutes. If your mixture becomes too thick just thin it out using a little water.

5. Add the spinach and turn the heat off. It will cook perfectly in the heat of the curry.

6. Remove the whole star anise before serving. Enjoy with beautiful Thai jasmine rice.