Easy Peasy Panang Curry

Hello friends,


I am sure many of you regular visitors to my blog have been wondering where I was. Just something personal I had to take care of and also I did not have access to a laptop for a while. So, missing in action. Sorry about it. Now, I will try to be regular.


So, after a long time, I cooked something special, which I always wanted to try, but was not gutsy enough as I know a lot of ingredients go in this curry. But, after I saw this recipe, I had to try it out :)


I did not have a few things in hand, so I did with what I could and let me tell you, I impressed myself.. lol.. if I can say so. It was not like restaurant perfect, but surely a great first try. And, great thing was that I could make it with things that I always have at home and did not need any special ingredient. So, without further ado, here it is, with slight changes that I made.


Panang Curry

Ingredients
Mixed Vegetables - 1.5 cups (I used frozen packet as I did not have usual veggies, which are thin carrot slices, celery, baby corn or any veggies basically you like)
Coconut Milk - 13.5 oz (usually one can)
Firm Tofu - 14 oz (you can lessen or increase based on how many veggies you are adding, to your liking)
Peanur Butter - 1/2 cup (smooth texture is preferred)
Shallots/Onions - 1 cup
Ginger - 2 tbsp, grated or thinly slices
Garlic - about 6 cloves, minced or finely chopped
Red Chili Paste  - 3 tbsp (or per  your liking)
Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup
Turmeric Powder - 2 tsp
Cumin Powder - 2 tsp
Kaffir Lime Leaves or freshly squeezed Lime Juice - 3 tbsp (in case of juice) and few leaves (if you are using leaves), I used juice only
Salt - as per taste
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Preparation

• Take a deep and thick bottomed pan, add oil and heat it.
• Add Shallots/Onions, Garlic, Ginger and cook till onions/shallots are tender.
• Add peanut butter, turmeric, cumin powder, red chili paste and cook for about a min. or so (make sure peanut butter doesn't stick to the bottom).
• Add the rest of the ingredients at this point, mix well till everything is smooth.
• Cover and cook in low heat (simmer) till all veggies are cooked (it took about 15 min. for me).
• Adjust any spices and let it simmer for few m ore minutes and it is all ready :)

Serving
I usually like my curries with warm rice, but this goes perfectly well with noodles as well and may be even rotis :) If you are eating with fried rice or something, this heat (mentioned in the ingredients) is ok, but if you are using white rice, you may want it bit hotter. But, always adjust spices, at the end.


This is my contribution to Aipi and my Bookmarked Recipes - Every Tuesday (Volume 25) and Hearth and Soul Hop - Volume 31 events.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.

Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

Hello friends,


Eid Mubarak to all my blogger friends and readers.


This is hands-down my favorite Thai dessert. I always wanted to try it out. The other day, I had kept some mango chopped in  a bowl to eat just like that and N comes and says, hey, why not make sticky rice with mango. I am like ok, yes, why not?


If any of you have tried it before, will surely agree that this is one lip-smacking, mouth watering dessert and usually when we go to Thai restaurant, we fight upon who will eat it first and fast and more :)


So, without further delay, here is the super yummy recipe. My rice became little runny, never-the-less, tasted great. Please keep an eye on how much water you add. Cook the rice per package's instructions.


Thai Sticky Rice with Mango

Ingredients
Thai Sticky Rice - 1 cup (you will get it in any Oriental shops)
Unsweetened Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup (increase or decrease based on how sweet you would like your rice to be)
Sesame Seeds - 1 tbsp
Ripe Mango - 2, finely sliced or chopped.
Preparation

• Cook rice per package's instructions and keep it aside.
• Lightly dry roast sesame seeds and keep them aside.
• Chop or slice mangoes to desired shape and keep them aside.
• Now, take a heavy bottomed pan and add coconut milk to it
• Let it simmer mixing continuously on low heat. You don't want to heat it at high flame otherwise the milk will curdle.
• Once the coconut milk has got one boil, add sugar to it and let it melt all.
• Now, add 3/4 of this coconut milk mix into the rice bowl/pot and let the rice sit and absorb all the milk. Don't let the mix cool down all the way.
• Now, take one portion of this absorbed rice in a serving plate (yes, plate is better than a bowl), sprinkle it with little of the coconut milk mix kept aside, sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds and then top it with sliced/chopped mango (some people like mango on top some like it on the side, so go with your liking).

Serving
Serve it as a perfect ending to any meal (not just Thai). This dessert is served hot or else the sticky rice will become too hard due to all the extra starch it has.


I am sending this to Akheela's Festive Rice event.





Also, linking it to Vegetarian Foodie Fridays # 17.

That's all for now. Take care till next post.