Thai Coconut Veggie Curry

I have made this five or six times now and it never disappoints, even if I do. One time I forgot the coconut milk, another I left off the tofu. I have used homemade vegan ‘fish sauce’ or the bottled kind, doesn’t matter. Delicious. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but this comes together very quickly, and once you have these on hand, you have the foundation for so many Thai dishes. This recipe was originally from Half Baked Harvest, but has been modified.

Thai Coconut Veggie Curry

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

I cup raw peanuts

3T olive oil

1T honey

cayenne pepper to taste

salt

1 pkg extra firm tofu

2T coconut oil

2 red peppers, sliced

3 carrots, chopped

1-2 c broccoli, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1T grated ginger

1T lemongrass, chopped

3T Thai red curry paste

1T soy sauce

1T sambal oelek

1/2 c chopped basil

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1 mango, diced

pomegranate aerils

cooked rice

Oven 425 degrees. Prepare the chickpea topping by drying the chickpeas as much as possible so they will become crunchy. Toss with the nuts, olive oil, honey, cayenne and salt and place on rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through, until browned and crunchy. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Heat a skillet with olive oil on medium heat, cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes and splash soy sauce on the tofu. Place the tofu into the hot skillet and brown it for 20 minutes, turning on all sides. Remove the tofu to a plate and set aside.

Melt the coconut oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook for 3 minutes, lightly charring the edges. Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass and curry paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tofu back into the skillet. Slowly pour in the coconut milk and 1 cup of water. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce and sambal oelek and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Bring the mixture to a boil and cover and reduce the heat, cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce is thickened. Remove from the heat and add the basil, lime zest and lime juice.

Ladle the curry over cooked rice in a bowl, top with the crunchy chickpeas, mango slices and pomegranate aerils.