THAI CURRY FRIED RICE

Starchy jasmine rice coated with a pungent mildly spiced green curry paste and loaded with veggies & protein, this green curry fried rice is a perfect one pot meal!

Thai is one of the cuisines I enjoy cooking quite a bit and this variation of fried rice is one of my favorites! The pungent but mildly spiced green curry fried rice that is loaded with veggies & protein

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (150g) tofu or protein of your choice

• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons oil

• 2 teaspoons oil, to brown the tofu

• 3 tablespoons green curry paste (store-bought works great!)

• ½ cup of coconut cream

• 2 teaspoon palm sugar or jaggery • 1 medium onion, diced

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced & divided • 2 - 3 shallots, optional

• 1.5 cup total diced carrots, green beans, peas

• 1/4 cup water • 1 medium green bell pepper, diced small

• 3 kaffir lime leaves, julienned

• 3 cups cooked rice (leftover rice is the best)

• ½ cup Thai basil

• ¼ cup cilantro, roots are the best but stems work well too

• 1 stalk lemongrass (bottom half only), minced

• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

In a small blender add in your store-bought curry paste, minced lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, half of the garlic, shallots, cilantro, Thai basil, and blend until there are no large chunks left. You don't need the paste to be completely smooth a little texture in the paste is fine.

In a deep-bottomed pot heat 2 teaspoons of oil, add in the tofu, and brown on 2 sides. Remove & set aside. In the same pot add in the rest of the oil and your onions and sauté on a medium flame until they are soft about 3 minutes.

Add in the remaining garlic and sauté until the raw smell is gone. Add in the bell peppers and sauté until about ½ way cooked. Add in your veggies, salt, & water and cook until the veggies have cooked ¾ of the way through. They will continue to cook further so you don't want to cook them all the way through just yet.

Add in the curry paste and cook until the oil starts to separate from the sides. Add in the soy sauce, tofu, & coconut milk and mix well, but be gentle to not break the tofu into small pieces. Reduce until the consistency is that of the curry paste, you want it to be able to coat the rice well but not make it too mushy.

Turn the flame down to low and add in the cooked rice and mix well until all the rice is coated with the curry paste. If you like some crispy bits of rice, once everything is well mixed and coated turn up the flame and allow the rice to crisp up at the bottom. Be sure to watch your rice when you do this as it can burn very quickly.

Take off the heat and serve hot.

Extra Tips:

• You can sub in any type of curry paste you like in this dish. Just adjust the ingredients (Thai basil, lime leaves) accordingly to amp up the flavor of your curry paste.

• Day-old rice is the best when making this fried rice but if you don't have any you can use freshly made rice as well. Just cook it so the kernels are still separate (usually a 1:1 proportion of rice and water is needed for this) and once cooked spread on a tray to cool down before using in the dish.