Stove Top Thai Beef and Sweet Potato Curry
Red curry paste or kreung gaeng phet daeng, is made from dried red chillies, shrimp paste, cilantro root, cumin, garlic, other herbs and spices. Rich, pungent and fiery, a little goes a long way. Use in stir fries, fried rice, omelettes, fish cakes and coconut milk-based curries and dishes with proteins of your choice. It is also great when added as a base ingredient to a variety of soups and broths. Makes a great marinade combined with coconut cream then tossed with some seafood or meat proteins and either grilled, baked or barbecued.
- Olive or rice bran oil
- 1 whole brown onion, finely minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 bay leaves
- Green parts of a bunch of spring onions, blended/pureed
- Stems and roots of a bunch of coriander, finely minced or blended. Keep the leaves for garnishing.
- ½ jar Latasha’s Kitchen Thai Red Curry Paste
- 1.5 kg diced gravy beef
- 1 x 500 g sweet potato, diced similar size to beef
- 400 ml coconut cream
- 300 ml water
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
Garnish
- Bunch of coriander leaves, chopped
Optional
- 2 tbsp or more store bought fried shallots
- Thai basil
- Kaffir lime leaves, torn
- Sliced red chillies
- Lime wedges
TIP: 1 − 2 tablespoons of sweet paprika can be added after the curry paste to give the curry a richer colour.
Method
- Heat oil, add onions and bay leaves. Cook with a pinch of salt until caramelised.
- Add blended/pureed spring onions and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Then add Latasha’s Kitchen Thai Red Curry Paste and cook until fragrant approximately 10 minutes. If using, add the sweet paprika at this stage.
- Add beef and coat with the paste on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add coconut cream, water and bring to a boil. Cook for a couple of minutes then add a pinch more salt, reduce heat to simmer, cover with a lid and cook for an hour.
- Then add diced sweet potato and cook for another 45 minutes to an hour, with a lid on until sauce has reduced and thickened to your desired consistency.
- Stir in the palm sugar, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with any or all of the optional items.
Notes:
The green portion of spring onions are tasty when used as an ingredient to thicken curries. Similar to the way onions are used, they add fibre and texture to a variety of South Indian and South East Asian curries. I like to mix onions and spring onions together in a pot and use it this way.
Blended spring onion freezes well which is also a bonus. When plentiful, simply trim away any excess limp parts − wash well − then chop and blend to a puree. Freeze purees in small containers or zip lock bags then simply add with diced onions to your pot when you are cooking curries.
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