Vegetarian Thai Red Curry With Tofu

The vegetarian version of the Thai red curry with homemade Thai red curry paste without any shrimp paste or fish sauce but loaded with veggies and Tofu. Check out how to make delicious Thai red curry with detailed step-wise pictures.

I love Thai food. Period. I love Thai food to such an extent that when my friends asked me where to cater/what food I want for my baby shower (mine was not a surprise one), I immediately answered Thai food from one of our favorite restaurants. So we had the party at home and went to the restaurant to enjoy the Thai food. Now you know why I was behind the authentic Thai ingredients.

My vegetarian version of the Thai red curry

Earlier I posted about the main Thai Ingredients used for the curries, and now it’s time for posting the curry recipes with those ingredients. So here I am today with a red curry recipe. Pretty much all the Thai curry pastes use shrimp paste called Gapi or fish sauce. So obviously, I am skipping them in my recipe and making it vegetarian. I am replacing the protein part (meat) with Tofu. But if you don’t have tofu go with vegetables or with paneer.

Yellow curry is my favorite, but as red curry paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Ped) forms the main base for all the curries, I start with this one.

This is a spicy curry, and the Thai red chilies I had added more spice to the curry. Basically, I referred to two sites and one book for the curry and the paste. One was Thai Table and this book – Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook and the last website is veg recipes for India.

The main reason for referring to three sites was to understand the ingredient proportions. Here is what I tried, and please see the notes section for additional information.

PS – I am not claiming this curry as authentic or traditional. This is my vegetarian/vegan take on the Thai red curry. 

Ingredients:

For the Red Curry Paste: 

• Thai Red Chillies – 2
• Dried Thai Red Chillies – 2
• Peppercorns – ½ tsp
• Cumin Seeds – ½ tsp
• Garlic Cloves – 2
• Shallots – 2
• Lemongrass – 1 tbsp 
• Coriander Seeds – 1 tsp
• Cilantro Stems – 1 tbsp
• Galangal – 1-inch piece

Other Ingredients:

• Tofu cubes – ¼ cup
• Potato – 1
• Eggplants – 2
• Green Beans – 4 to 5
• Thai Basil – few leaves
• Kaffir Lime Leaves -2
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Thin coconut milk – 1 cup
• Thick coconut milk – 1 cup
• Paprika – ¾ tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp to 1.5 tsps. (Adjust according to your taste)
• Water – 2 to 3 tbsps

Vegetarian Thai red curry recipe with homemade red curry paste 

• Chop the galangal and lemongrass.

• Grind all the ingredients given under “For Red Curry Paste” coarsely by adding 2 to 3 tbsps of water.

• Chop the tofu into cubes and chop the veggies. I used my curvy knife for these shapes. (Beans is missing here in the picture, I missed it .)

• Now heat the pan/kadai and add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the veggies alone and saute for a minute. Now add the thin coconut milk and salt.

• Let it simmer till the veggies are tender. Now add the red curry paste and kaffir lime leaves and mix well.

• Cook till the raw taste goes. Add the paprika and tofu.

• Now add the thick coconut milk and chopped Thai basil.

• Let it simmer for 5 to 7 minutes, and that’s it. Serve hot with rice. 

Recipe Notes:

• I used white shallots here as I didn’t have the purple ones. If you don’t have a shallot, use half of the regular purple onion.
• Paprika powder is for the color. If you feel it’s too spicy, go with the food color, or you can skip that too. The color depends upon the thickness of coconut milk too.
• You can grind the kaffir lime and the curry paste but make sure you remove the middle stem from the leaf. 
• Add brown sugar to balance the spice. 
• Before making the paste, you can dry roast cumin, pepper, and coriander seeds.
• I have used cilantro stems but you can use fresh leaves as well. 
• Galangal is pretty strong, and along with lemongrass, the flavor is unique and strong. Adjust the proportions according to your taste.

More Thai Recipes from the archives:

• Thai-style watermelon rind curry
• Veg Thai yellow curry
• Veg Thai green curry
• Green papaya and mango salad

If you’ve made this Thai red curry recipe, please share your photos with me on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Twitter – I will be delighted to see your results!

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4.50 from 2 votes

Vegetarian Thai Red Curry With Tofu

The vegetarian version of the Thai red curry with homemade Thai red curry paste without any shrimp paste or fish sauce but loaded with veggies and Tofu.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: rice accompaniment

Cuisine: Thai

Servings: 4

Calories: 310kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Ingredients

Ingredients

For the Red Curry Paste

• ▢ 2 Thai Red Chillies
• ▢ 2 Dried Thai Red Chillies
• ▢ ½ tsp Peppercorns
• ▢ ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
• ▢ 2 Garlic Cloves
• ▢ 2 Shallots
• ▢ 1 tbsp Lemon Grass
• ▢ 1 tsp Coriander Seeds
• ▢ 1 tbsp Cilantro Stems
• ▢ 1 inch Galangal

Other Ingredients

• ▢ ¼ cup Tofu cubes
• ▢ 1 Potato chopped
• ▢ 2 Eggplant chopped
• ▢ 5 Green Beans chopped
• ▢ 5 Thai Basil
• ▢ 2 Kaffir Lime Leaves
• ▢ 1 tbsp Oil
• ▢ 1 cup Thin coconut milk
• ▢ 1 cup Thick coconut milk
• ▢ ¾ tsp Paprika
• ▢ 1.5 tsp Salt Adjust according to your taste
• ▢ ¼ cup Water

Instructions

• Chop the galangal and lemongrass.
• Grind all the ingredients given under "For Red Curry Paste" coarsely by adding 2 to 3 tbsps water.
• Chop the tofu into cubes and chop the veggies. I used my curvy knife for these shapes.
• Now heat the pan/kadai and add oil.
• Once the oil is hot add the veggies alone and saute for a minute.
• Now add the thin coconut milk and salt.
• Let it simmer till the veggies are tender.
• Now add the red curry paste and mix well.
• Cook till the raw taste goes. Add the paprika and tofu.
• Now add the thick coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves and chopped Thai basil.
• Let it simmer for 5 to 7 minutes and that's it.

Notes

• I used white shallots here as I didn't have the purple ones. If you don't have a shallot, use half of the regular purple onion.
• Paprika powder is for the color. If you feel it's too spicy, go with the food color, or you can skip that too. The color depends upon the thickness of coconut milk too.
• You can grind the kaffir lime and the curry paste but make sure you remove the middle stem from the leaf. 
• Add brown sugar to balance the spice. 
• Before making the paste, you can dry roast cumin, pepper, and coriander seeds.
• I have used cilantro stems but you can use fresh leaves as well. 
• Galangal is pretty strong, and along with lemongrass, the flavor is unique and strong. Adjust the proportions according to your taste.

Nutrition

Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 906mg | Potassium: 535mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3094IU | Vitamin C: 69mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 5mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

Tried this recipe?Mention @vidhyasvegetariankitchen or tag #vidhyasvegkitchen

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