Zucchini curry
ingrediencie
2 pcs medium zucchini 2 pcs onion 50 g coconut fat, or rapeseed or sunflower oil ginger (2 cm) 4 cloves garlic 3 tbsp curry paste (red) 5 pcs lime leaf 3 tbsp fish sauce 2 tsp romaine 2 tsp cumin 2 pinches ground black pepper 1 pinch chilli powder 2 pinches finely ground cardamom 1 tsp ground coriander 1 tsp salt 1 stalk lemongrass fresh 500 ml coconut cream 15 pcs shiitake mushrooms
Fresh sprinkles
1 bunch fresh coriander 1 sprig Perilla 1 handful mung sprouts 1 handful fried onion from ikea 1 bunch any leaf lettuce 50 g unsalted peanuts 1 tbsp lime juice 1 sprig mint
Sides
1 cup basmati rice
step
The recipe is almost vegan, but even orthodox meat eaters like me won’t be offended. If you want a vegan version substitute soy sauce for the fish sauce, and I don’t know if the ikea onions are vegan either. The spice amounts are given as a guide, which is roughly how I do it but in this case don’t be afraid to experiment and flavour it to your liking. If you don’t have such a developed tolerance for spicy use yellow curry paste and don’t add chilli.
1.
Soak the dried Shiitake mushrooms for at least 3 hours before actual preparation so that they are soft.
2.
Fry the finely chopped scallions in coconut oil over medium heat until golden brown. Once the onions are fried add the finely chopped garlic and ginger. At this point, be careful to keep the heat to a minimum so that the garlic and ginger don’t burn. From the addition of the garlic and ginger, fry for only 1-2 minutes.
3.
Add curry paste, Roman cumin, black pepper, chilli powder (carefully as the paste itself is quite strong), cardamom, ground coriander, salt (again to taste) and fish sauce. Simmer this mixture for about 3 minutes on low heat.
4.
To this mixture, add the diced zucchini and diced Shiitake mushrooms and simmer on low for about 10 minutes until the zucchini and mushrooms are tender.
5.
At the end of cooking, add coconut milk only. And adjust to taste with lime juice, or to taste with the spices and salt mentioned above (don’t add cumin because it would be hard)
6.
Chop the fresh herbs for sprinkling and add to each serving to taste, along with the fried onions and peanuts.
7.
Serve with cooked basmati rice or rice noodles.