This recipe is super easy to make and takes half an hour to cook. The sauce cooks while your rice does, and everything comes together at the same time. This is awesome for a hardy, fast, weekday dinner. I used shrimp, but you can use a flaky white fish such as cod, or even chicken if you’d like. Whatever protein you decide to put in, it will turn out delicious either way.

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste
• 1 cup of Coconut Milk (light or full fat)
• 1 1/2 of Vegetable broth
• 2 Shallots
• 5 cloves of Garlic
• 2 large Carrots
• 2 cups of Broccoli
• 2 bell peppers
• A handful of Cilantro
• 3 scallions
• 1/2 tablespoon of avocado oil
• 1 1/2 cups of Jasmine Rice
• 1 Lime
• 2 pounds of frozen shrimp
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch

Spices

• White or black pepper
• Cumin
• Salt

Prep

For this recipe, I used carrots, broccoli and bell peppers. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand, but I find this combination works really well. Chop up your vegetables into pieces roughly around the same size. In total you should have about 5-6 cups of vegetables. This may seem like a lot, but the measurements I used were enough to feed about 6 servings, so if use less if you’re making less. Next, finely chop your shallots and garlic and place in a separate bowl than your vegetables. For the Shrimp, if you’re using frozen shrimp, defrost them before using. This recipe is awesome for frozen shrimp and frozen veggies so whatever you have in your freezer, defrost them and toss it in. It will taste good no matter what you put in.

Jasmine Rice

For the rice, I started off by bringing 3 cups of water to a rolling boil on high heat. I added my shallots and garlic to the water and seasoned it with salt. Then, I added a cup and a half of Jasmine rice and put the cover on the pot, lowering my heat to low. Every 5 minutes, give the rice a little stir so that nothing sticks. Jasmine rice takes about 25 minutes to cook, but check your rice for instructions. You can use whatever rice you have on hand, but Jasmine rice is more traditional to serve alongside thai curry.

After your rice is cooked, take it off the heat and let it rest with the lid on for about 5 minutes to let everything soak up and become fluffy. At the very end, before serving, squeeze in the juice of half a lime and taste for salt.

Curry sauce

While the rice is cooking, I started by heating half a tablespoon of avocado oil in a high side skillet. Next, I put 6 tablespoons of the red thai curry paste in the oil to cook it. Red thai curry paste needs to be cooked because it is a purée of vegetables. Red thai curry paste is also quite spicy, so if you’re not into too much spice, I suggest adding a little bit less than I did. Cook the curry paste in the oil for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat. Then add 2 teaspoons of cumin and a teaspoon of white pepper. Once the curry paste smells fragrant, add in your cup and a half of vegetable broth and your cup of coconut milk. I used light coconut milk, but use full fat if you want a creamier texture. Next, Roll your lime on your counter top to release the most juice possible and cut in half. Reserve half for the rice. Squeeze the juice of half a lime into the sauce. Turn the heat up to high and let the sauce cook.   

Once the sauce has cooked for about 10 minutes, add your vegetables. Put the lid on your skillet and let the vegetables steam until the broccoli turns bright green and the carrots are a bit tender but still have a bite to them. I had pre-cooked frozen shrimp that I wanted to use up, so I defrosted those about an hour before using. The whole bag was about 2 pounds. I put the shrimp right in the sauce and put the lid back on, heating them through for about 5 minutes. If your shrimp are still slightly frozen when you put them in, don’t worry, just cook them a little bit longer. To finish off the sauce, in a small bowl, I mixed 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. I stirred until completely smooth and poured into the curry. Once it comes back up to a boil, your sauce will thicken. This is to give the sauce a thicker consistency and help it stick to the protein and vegetables better. Cook the sauce until the rice is done.

Finishing Up

To tie everything together, I folded in some cilantro into the curry. Then, I served it with some more cilantro on top, as well as scallions. You can also serve this with some lime wedges if you like a little added brightness and acidity to your curry. Use this recipe as a guide and add whatever you have in your freezer! This is a great recipe to be creative with, so use it as inspiration!