Fragrant Red Curry

Gluten-free | Sugar-free | Dairy-free | Grain-free | Nut-free

Makes enough for 4-6 serves

Why it’s delicious

This curry will make you want to lick the plate clean as it's incredibly moreish and tasty. Based on a Thai-style red curry, I’ve given it an extra kick which sends the flavour into overdrive!

If you would like to see me make this dish live, you can watch the video by clicking on this link

Helpful hints and tips

This recipe is amazingly versatile. Feel free to replace the prawns with tofu, beef, chicken, or vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini and asparagus. 

This recipe requires Bridget's Sticky Sauce, a healthy cooking sauce I use in many of my recipes. It's simple, healthy and packs a lot of flavour without adding unnecessary calories. If you need the recipe, you can get it here.

My Roasted Tomato Sauce is also used in this recipe, which was created for my homemade meatballs. It’s free from gluten, sugar, and dairy and has no added fats or oils. Get the recipe here. However, feel free to use canned whole peeled Roma tomatoes. 

Before you start, you’ll also need to prepare my Kombu Water. Kombu water is my healthy broth alternative and one of my favourite foundation recipes. If you need the recipe, you can find it here.

Ingredients

Red curry paste

• 1-4 dried chillies, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes or until soft. Use as many chillies or as few depending on what heat you like
• 5 kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin strips
• 1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, thinly sliced
• 1 thumb-sized piece of galangal or ginger, peeled and chopped into small chunks
• 1 ½ tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 small red onion, sliced into chunks
• 2 tbsp fermented shrimp paste (belacan paste), optional but recommended

For the curry

• 2 tsp coconut or avocado oil
• 2 tbsp Bridget's Sticky Sauce
• 400 g (14 oz) raw king prawn tails, diced extra firm tofu or green vegetables (see above for more variations)
• 200 g (7 oz) Roasted Tomato Sauce or 1 canned whole peeled Roma tomatoes, well blended
• 1-2 tbsp Sweet as Fibre Syrup
• 1-2 tbsp good quality fish sauce
• 400 ml (14 oz) coconut cream
• 100-200 ml (3.5-7 oz) Kombu Water for thinning down the sauce
• Handful of fresh basil, coriander and mint leaves to serve
• Lime wedges to serve 

Method

1. Make the red curry paste by placing the softened chillies, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, red onion, and shrimp paste into a small food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms. You may need to scrape down the sides of the processor a few times to ensure a smooth, even paste. Set aside. 
2. Heat a large pan or wok with the coconut oil and sticky sauce on medium to high heat and add the prawn tails. Stir fry for a couple of minutes until the prawns are just cooked through. 
3. Remove the prawns from the pan, set them aside and place the pan back on to the heat. Add the curry paste and allow it to cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often. During this time, the paste will become fragrant and change colour, just watch that it doesn't burn. 
4. Now add the roasted tomato sauce and stir well and then add 1 tablespoon of fibre syrup and 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and stir in. Allow the curry to cook for a minute or two, and then add the coconut cream. Stir well and taste the curry sauce for flavour adding more fibre syrup or fish sauce if you deem it necessary. If the curry is a little thick, you can add a little water to thin it down. 
5. Place the prawns into the sauce and cook for a further 30-45 seconds to give a final heat through before serving the curry topped with fresh herbs for added flavour and lime wedges for an extra squeeze. 
6. Serve this curry with fresh crunchy bean sprouts, lightly blanched leafy greens like English spinach, Chinese broccoli, gai larn or choy sum or on a simple salad made from fresh sliced cucumbers and thinly sliced fennel bulbs.