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.
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.