Khmer-style curry - Cambodia

This week I travelled to South-East Asia which I was very excited about, and I decided to cook a flavourful curry from Cambodia which has one of my favourite ingredients – Kaffir Lime leaves! This curry is flavoured with shrimp paste, fish sauce, chillies, galangal, ginger, turmeric and lemon grass and is usually made with chicken. However, in my efforts to be more plant based I decided to use a lot of vegetables and some tofu instead of meat – so while it’s not vegan it’s definitely plant-based!

Cooking the curry was a bit of an adventure, I first had to source shrimp paste which is relatively easy to do if the Asian shops near you are open... due to Covid mine are running reduced hours which I didn’t know about (note to self: clearly I should be going more often so I know these things)! So anyway, after a lot of running around I eventually found some shrimp paste which turned out to be this revolting looking brown/greyish paste that smells and tastes of the ocean... trust me when I say you’re not going to want to put it in when you see it, but I promise you won’t regret it once you do. It adds SO much flavour! I’m now going to have to look up a few other recipes to try out with it. The second adventure came by way of the colour of the final product.. the recipe I tried promised me a red curry (which I guess comes from ground chilli!). Mine, however, was decidedly yellow, and I looked up a few other recipes which had a mix of yellow and red tinges so I guess my word of advice is if you want it red – add A LOT of chilli.

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the curry paste

· 2 lemongrass stalks

· 2 cloves garlic,

· 2 shallots, peeled

· 2 kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin strips

· 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

· 1 tablespoon fresh turmeric, peeled (or 1 teaspoons of ground turmeric powder)

· 2 inches galangal, peeled

· 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

· 1 bird's eye chili

· 5 large dried red peppers, seeds and stems removed, rehydrated by soaking in hot water for 10 minutes. (reserve the water)

For the curry

· 2 tbsp vegetable oil

· Protein of choice (I used tofu, you could use chicken, lentils, tinned chickpeas, fish)

· 1 can coconut milk (400ml)

· 1 can coconut cream (150ml)

· 1 large onion, roughly chopped

· 1kg of vegetables of choice (I used peppers, aubergine, and courgette)

· 500g potato, chopped into bite sized pieces

· 3tbsp fish sauce

· 1 tsp shrimp paste

· 2 tbsp sugar

· Salt to taste

· Water

Method

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the paste into a blender and add ½ cup of the chilli water. Blend until it becomes a paste, you may need to add a bit more water.

2. In a large pan over medium heat, heat the oil. Once it’s warm add the curry paste and stir until fragrant. Then add the onion. Once the onion is a little translucent add your protein of choice. (Tip: If using fish or shrimp don’t wait until the end or it will be overcooked).

3. Stir for 2-3 minutes and then add the potato and other vegetables that may take a while to cook (aubergine, pumpkin, carrots).

4. Stir for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk, coconut cream, fish sauce, shrimp paste, sugar and salt. Once it comes to a boil, taste and add a cup or two of water. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the veg and protein is cooked.

5. Add the vegetables that will cook quickly (courgette, peppers, mushrooms) (This is where I would recommend your add fish or shrimp if using). Cook for 5 more minutes and serve with rice or noodles.