Green Thai Curry

I love a good green Thai curry, so I knew I had to find a way to make a plant-based, backpacking version of it. The bold flavors come from the green curry paste, which you need to make ahead of time. The curry paste is so flavorful and different from anything you’ll find in a jar at the store. This recipe is easily adaptable, so you can swap in your favorite vegetables, add tofu, and skip the rice all together if that is more your thing.

Serves 4:

Ingredients (green curry paste):

• ½ cup cilantro (stems and seeds)

• 1 shallot

• 1 serrano chilies

• 2 stalks of lemongrass

• 2 garlic cloves

• ½ inch fresh ginger

• 1tsp ground turmeric

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground cumin 

• 1 tsp ground coriander 

• juice from 1 lime

• 3 T water

Ingredients (curry):

• 1 medium sized yellow onion, diced

• 2 large carrots, cut in half and sliced in ¼ slices

• 3 golden potatoes, cut into tiny cubes (the smaller they are, the shorter the cooking time)

• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets 

• 1 lb green beans, cut into thirds

• 1 can (13.6 oz) full fat coconut milk

• 3 cups cooked rice, dehydrated

• 1 T coconut oil

• 1 lime

• Water

Method:

To make the curry paste, blend all of the ingredients together in a high speed food processor or blender. If you don’t have a cooler with you while camping, you can dehydrate the paste. For this recipe I dehydrated all of the paste and reconstituted as described in later steps.

Melt coconut oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until they begin to soften and caramelized. Then add potato slices and continue to sauté.

Once the potatoes start to also get crispy, add the rest of the veggies and sauté for 4 more minutes.

Add the rice, coconut milk, half of the fresh green curry paste and 4 cups of water. Cover the pan with a lid and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Taste the curry and if you want more spice and flavor, add more of the curry paste. I usually add all of it, but that might be too intense for some. If it looks too dry, add more water. We often go through a whole Nalgene’s worth of water to make it really soft and creamy.

Before serving, mix in the juice of one lime.