Red Curry Shrimp

We Indians eat curries with roti or rice very often. I thought why not try curry from other cuisines. My very first thought was thai curry. There are many variations to it and the recipe I tried is red curry with shrimp and of course with lots of veggies.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound shrimp - peeled and deveined
1/2 cup peas
3 carrots diced
2 celery stalks diced (optional)
1 small onion diced
2 table spoons thai red curry paste
2 tablespoons oil (peanut, sesame, canola)
dill or basil for garnish (optional)

Method:
Heat a pan on medium high and add oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Add red curry paste (I bought it from a thai grocery store) and saute for another minute until fragrant. Add shrimp to the pan and cook until the shrimp is cooked through, it will take 4-5 minutes. Garnish with basil or dill and serve with white rice or brown rice. Is that quick or what.

Tips and More:

• You can go little or over the board with veggies. Well you got to eat your vegetables.
• I personally don't like coconut milk in curries, but many people love it. Actually, thai curries traditionally have coconut milk as their base to the curries. So, add 1/2 - 1 cup coconut milk, store bought (you can make it yourself if you have all the time in the world) and add it to the pan after you saute the red curry paste for a minute. Let the milk come to a boil and then add the shrimp.
• You can also make chicken version with the same recipe. Add green and red bell peppers for additional flavor.
• Curry paste usually has all the elements but check on the seasoning at the end.

Thai Fried Rice

You can't make a meal quicker than a thai fired rice. If you are planning for a take out tonight, try this recipe and you won't be disappointed. I tried 10 times to perfect this recipe and finally here it is. This recipe serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked white rice (I used the left over rice from previous day)
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped onion pieces
2 carrots diced
8 thai basil leaves
1 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon sambal or chili garlic paste (optional or adjust to your spice level)
2 eggs (I used only 1 yolk, 2 egg whites)
3 scallions- both greens and white parts chopped
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
couple of pinches salt

Method:
In a bowl, mix the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sambal, sesame oil, chicken stock, scallions, turmeric and keep it aside. Heat a pan on high heat, and add peanut oil. When the oil is hot, add onion, carrots and salt. Stir for 2 minutes, add ginger, garlic, turmeric and stir for another 30 seconds. Add eggs to the pan wait until the eggs are settled. Break the eggs into a crumble, add rice, basil and peas to the pan. Stir just until every thing in the pan is mixed well. Add the prepared sauce to the rice and stir well for 1 minute.

Tips and More:

• Add mushrooms, beans, bokchoy, tomatoes, celery, sprouts for more veggies.
• Avoid egg for vegetarian version, add chicken for thai chicken fried rice. If you are adding chicken, add it after you added ginger and garlic to the pan. You can also use vegetable stock or water instead of chicken stock.
• You can add cilantro at the end for extra flavor.
• Don't add too much chicken stock. It will make the rice soupy.
• Use low sodium soy sauce and chicken stock in order to control the amount of sodium in-take.
• Peanut oil has a high smoking point and hence is used in most of the asian recipes. If you don't have peanut oil at hand, use canola or vegetable or any other oil you regularly use.