Thai Coconut Curry with Vegetables and Rice

METHOD

• 1
  First, prepare the curry paste: Peel the ginger and garlic and deseed the chili peppers. Place the peeled ginger, garlic, and cleaned chili peppers into a tall blending container, add all other ingredients for the paste, and blend everything with an immersion blender until a smooth paste forms.
• 2
  Then cut the tofu into cubes approximately 2 cm × 2 cm. Peel the onion and slice it thinly. Cut the white cabbage and red bell pepper into thin strips.
• 3
  Now, cook the rice. First, rinse it at least 3 times under running water and transfer it to a pot. Then pour 300 ml of water over it, salt it, and bring it to a boil over high heat. Afterward, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid, and let the rice simmer for 13–15 minutes. After this time, remove the pot from the heat and let the rice rest under the lid for 5–10 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork.
• 4
  While the rice is simmering, prepare the curry itself. Take a pan and heat 3 tablespoons of oil in it over medium heat. Then add the chopped tofu and onion to the pan and sauté for 3–4 minutes over medium heat. Next, add the chopped white cabbage and bell pepper, the prepared curry paste, salt, and pepper, and sauté everything for another 4–5 minutes over medium heat. Then add the coconut milk, vegetable broth, and lime zest and juice, mix everything, and bring the entire mixture to a boil over high heat. Afterward, reduce the heat to medium and cook the contents of the pan for 14–15 minutes, until the vegetables soften.
• 5
  Meanwhile, finely chop the spring onion and roughly chop the coriander.
• 6
  After 14–15 minutes of cooking the mixture in the pan, take a small bowl, mix the soy sauce and cornstarch in it, pour the resulting mixture into the pan, stir, and cook everything for another 1–2 minutes over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Then remove the pan from the heat, stir in the chopped spring onion and coriander, and season the resulting mixture with salt.
• 7
  Divide the finished curry into 4 portions and serve with steamed rice.