Tales from a Veggie Kitchen

It's been a while and to be honest I haven't cooked an awful lot that I haven't before. I find myself with a lot less time on my hands now than I used to, especially now I've picked up a new hobby as well. I might just do a "recipe of the month" from now on.

But anyway! Here's this rather cheaty thai green curry, as I didn't make the paste myself but was testing one ofthe only other curry pastes I know to be vegetarian from Tesco supermarket. It wasn't brilliant, too much heat and not enough flavour for my liking, but find a decent curry paste and the combination of veggies and coconut milk in this version will taste great.


Thai Green Curry

Serves 2

Takes 30 minutes


Half a block of tofu (enough for a good handful of small pieces each)

1 courgette

1 red pepper

5-6 babycorns

Half a white onion

A clove of garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

400ml coconut milk (I always use half-fat, but full fat tastes much better)

Thai green curry paste

Half a lime

Noodles or rice to serve.


* Drain and chop the tofu into small pieces. Fry on a medium heat for 7-10 minutes until getting nicely brown on all sides.

* In the meantime chop the vegetables as desired. When the tofu is nicely fried, add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry for a couple of minutes, then add the curry paste and coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes.

* Tip in the rest of the vegetables and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may wish to add the courgettes a little after the others if you prefer them with a bit of bite.

* When ready to serve, squeeze in the juice from the lime and stir through.

A simple, tasty and nutritious curry which is a bit different to the standard curries you get from the shops or restaurants. When was the last time you saw an egg curry on the menu? The spices can be varied according to taste; I make it very mild and don't use any chillis at all.


Egg curry

Serves 2

I can't remember how long this takes, but not very long once you've boiled the eggs. About 20 minutes.


3 hardboiled eggs, peeled

1 400g tin of tomatoes (try and get pre-flavoured ones, such as garlic)

3 tbsp yoghurt

1/2 a small tin of sweetcorn (vary according to taste)

1 small onion or escallion shallot

2 cloves of garlic

1 generous tsp of minced ginger

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 1/2 tsp tumeric

1 tsp mild curry powder


* Gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger and spices together until the onion begin to soften.

* Add the eggs cut face down and fry for a further 5 minutes until they brown a bit.

* Add the tomatoes and sweetcorn and bring to the boil, then set to a simmering heat. You can also add a bit of spinach here, if more veg is wanted!

* Lastly stir in the yoghurt and cook until heated through.

* Best served with basmati rice.