Thai Curry Cheat

I love Thai curry. I crave it on an almost daily basis. In fact, I think I had a dream about it once. I usually get my curry fix at Sea Thai, but since I have no way of getting there at the moment, I had to make do with what I had on hand to feed the curry monster. I didn't have some of the traditional ingredients to make an authentic curry (re: a warm hug in a bowl) so I used what I did have to come up with something semi-authentic that tastes 100% good.



Tofu & vegetables in red curry sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 block firm tofu, pressed and cubed
- 1 large bell pepper, cut in strips
- 2 Japanese eggplant, cubed
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ginger, grated
- 1/2 Thai chili, minced
- 4-5 basil leaves, preferably Thai
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- Zest and juice of 1 lime
- 1 tsp raw sugar
- Optional: 4oz rice noodles (any size)

Instructions
- Cook rice noodles according to package directions. Set aside.
- Dry fry tofu in a non-stick skillet on medium/medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides. It shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes on each side. Set aside.
- Add coconut oil to a large skillet or wok on medium/medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, chili and ginger and cook until translucent. Add peppers and eggplant and cook for 5 minutes.
- While vegetables cook, bring coconut milk to a low boil in sauce pan and dissolve red curry paste and sugar. Once boiled, add mixture to vegetables and stir to combine.
- Add lime zest + juice, basil and tofu. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are soft. During the last few minutes of cooking, add rice noodles and stir to break them apart and coat them in the curry sauce. Plate with a garnish of lime and enjoy!

Serves 2




Sea Thai definitely does it better, but this was so, so good. It was just spicy enough to make my nose run a little bit and it had that creamy, warm hug consistency that I love. It's also a lighter alternative to typical curry since it's more of a stir fry than a soup, but it still had all the best elements of Thai curry. Definitely give this a try if you want an inexpensive, easy red curry fix!