Delicious!
I love fresh homegrown cucumbers – sadly we have just eaten the last …. sob. I grow the small, lunch box ones that you comonly find in Mediterranean or Middle Eastern cookery. They are packed with flavour. And as they are a nice size you don’t tend to waste much.
I often order this dish at my local Thai restaurant – it’s mild and creamy. I don’t have an exact recipe, so made one up that was full of distinctive Thai flavours. One book I reference when in doubt is David Thompson’s Thai Food, a real tome of all that is Thai cookery, lots of ideas and background to Thai cookery.
Thai Yellow Vegetable Curry
Thai yellow Curry Paste ~
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1 stalk of lemon grass, with the ends trimmed, and chopped into chunks
- 2 lime leaves
- 1 small piece of galangal (or ginger), peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 green chillies, roughly chopped
- 1 onion peeled and roughly chopped (or 4 shallots)
- water – approx 1 tbls
- 1 tbls of fish sauce (optional)
- 1/4 tsp of Turmeric
Curry ~
- 1 Courgette, sliced into 1/2 rounds
- 1 green pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 6 spring onions, topped and tailed and sliced lengthways into halves or quarters
- And any other vegetables you fancy adding like green beans, potatoes, winter squash
- Fried tofu or prawns – this is optional but I like to add some protein into my meals
- 1/2 can of Coconut milk
Making the curry ~
- Place all the paste ingredients, EXCEPT the turmeric into a blender and whizz until all the ingredients are blended and form a rough paste
- Place the paste into a large saucepan or wok, add the turmeric and fry gently for 2 minutes
- Add the coconut milk, and stir well
- Add the courgette and peppers, stir and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes
- Add the tofu or prawns, and continue to cook on a low heat for another 3 minutes, or until the prawns are warmed through
- If the sauce is too thick add a little cold water, to thin it.
- Serve with plain rice and the dipping sauce spooned over the curry.
Cucumber Dipping Sauce
Ingredients ~
- 1 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
- 2 tbls rice wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbls of sugar
Method ~
- Put the rice wine vinegar and sugar in a small pan on a low heat. Gently warm it through until all the sugar is dissolved
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool
- In a small serving bowl add the liquid and the cucumber
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Gardening Notes ~
I grew Iznik and Cucino. Both are delicious and good croppers, but do need full sun. They will both be on my grow list next year. The best tip I ever picked up about cucumbers was that when planted out, pinch out all the flower buds until they reach a decent height – approx 12 to 18 inches high. Apparently this encourages good strong growth as the plant isn’t putting all it’s energies into producing the fruit. Try it, it works a treat!
Curry & cucumbers – this sounds splendid! My husband and I are actually embarking on an Asian sabbatical in the coming weeks (and Thailand is on the list) so it’ll have to be a recipe that I file away for a few months… Happy that we stumbled upon each other’s sites though – I love your emphasis on growing your own goodies!
Hi tricia, and thanks for stopping by. I’m now soooo jealous that you are heading east, I hope yo have a wonderful time, maybe you will get to eat a yellow curry while you are there. I’ll look forward to reading your posts 🙂
Mmmmm…. I need to try your recipe.. Sounds tasty, and now I know how to make Yellow Curry Paste, thanks to your blog.. I am just starting to grow food plants too.. You have given me inspiration to keep going!
Thanks for your comment I hope you like it. Growing vegetables becomes a bit addictive, happy gardening!
Yes! I have now found myself loving having the plants that I have… I want more plants currently, but I only have limited space, as my garden, is well,CONCRETE… Everything has to grow in plant pots…I am trying to sow some Turnip seeds at the moment and I am looking into organic insecticides…Any ideas please?
I used to grow lots in pots – like courgettes, and I still do a few things like tomatoes, salads and herbs. I know with pots you need to feed the plants extra as the compost they are in leaches over time and the nutrients are used up so I’d suggest getting a multi purpose liquid feed for established plants.
Insecticides and organic, hmmm – I’m not very knowledgeable on this subject, I know a few readers on this blog who are much more knowledgeable than I am. I guess it depends on what bugs you are dealing with – is it aphids, or blackfly or what. I know some people use a garlic spray for aphids, I havenn’t tried this though as I don’t tend to use anything. I do net some things as pigeons like to eat my greens, and any young shoots like peas.
I also try and do companion planting – and use flowers and herbs like marigolds and nasturtiums to draw the nasty bugs away from my precious plants, and herbs – escpecially strong scented ones are good for various crops. Maybe I should do a post on this subject! And thanks for popping in again, lets hope our gardening year is a great one!
I have looked at sooo many things… I reckoned that you may have had some more knowledge, as you seem to be quite a prolific Gardener.. I have heard of Garlic, Onion Peel and even Nicotine!! Oh well, trial and error! Have you ever grown strawberry plants before??
Ah yes I’ve heard of Nicotine as well, not sure I’d want to try that! I was chatting with a friend and was reminded that we both use a few drops of washing up liquid in water to spray on aphids. But only a tiny drop in water, otherwise it will burn the plants. She’s also been experimenting with a mixture of garlic and washing up liquid and seems to be doing ok with it. Hope this helps.
and yes to Strawberries – lovely plants and very easy to grow in containers too! Watch out though as slugs and birds like them as well!
Hello again…Thanks again…I think that I may try the Chilli dust, and garlic and soap sprays for my plants once they start growing properly. My strawberry plant is growing, but the stems are a little brown at the moment…I am watering it with small amounts of water every few days… What might be causing it?
My strawbery plants often have brown tinges on them, and some dead leaves, I just leave them to it! Maybe an all-purpose feed might do them some good if they are in pots
Thanks, I have already fed the plant with feed sometime last week…. I suppose I need to feed them some more then…Strawberries seem to be high maintenance!
I’d be a bit careful with the feeding, not too much! Lets’ hope you have some tasty strawberries to show for all your efforts!