Thai Red Curry from Scratch

Ingredients

• 150g long beans, in short lengths
• 2 carrots, in batons
• 1/4 cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 cup grated coconut, or 400ml coconut milk
• 1 onion, chopped
• 7 dried red chillies, soaked
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 tsp sugar
• Salt

Method

1. Grind onion, garlic, coriander seeds, cumin, lime leaves and soaked chillies to a paste. Add the sugar.
2. If using fresh coconut, blend with warm water and squeeze through a cloth — the first, thick extraction goes in last.
3. Boil the thin coconut milk in a wide pan and stir in the paste.
4. Cook until oil beads on the surface. This is the step people skip and the curry tastes raw without it.
5. Vegetables in, 5 minutes on low.
6. Thick coconut milk at the end, warm through but don't boil it.