It doesn’t take Indians too long to develop our own version of anything. So we have our own version of Chinese, American, Mediterranean and yes! even Thai food. But given that we mostly modify other cuisines to satisfy our cravings for spiciness and gravy, or simply because the ingredients in the original recipes are not available locally, will authentic Thai cuisine be really different from our version of it? As part of the rice-curry consuming population of coastal India, I feel quite at home with Thai food. Though quick to point out the health conscientiousness of Thai food, which is rich in vitamins and proteins, even the Thai Consul-General, Nat Pinyowattanacheep, who recently tasted caldine on a trip to Goa remarks about its similarity to a coconut-milk based Thai curry.
Thai cuisine blends elements of several Southeast Asian traditions, and uses strong aromatic components with a light hand to create a delicate balance of sweetness, sourness, saltiness and bitterness in each dish. The spiciness of Thai cuisine is often spoken of, but given that the three dishes on our task list today — Vegetarian Thai Red Curry, Chicken Thai Green Curry and Papaya Salad (Som tam) — comprise two coconut-milk based curries and a salad, there’s no way to tell if the level of Thai spiciness matches or exceeds that of Indian spiciness.
The Thai Consul-General’s spouse Sumanussa Vacharat Pinyowattanacheep, and Francette Faurie Harrison, the wife of Andrew W Harrison, the Four Seasons’ General Manager, have decided to participate in our cooking experiment; so it’s an assorted bunch with varying degrees of cooking experience, who are soon pounding pestle against mortar in an attempt to grind the ingredients of the Thai Green Curry into a fine paste. I keep shifting the pestle from one hand to the other as my arms tire, and I just have to doff my hat to our grandmothers’ manual labour.
We fry the paste (mine is not quite as fine as it ought to be) in a dash of oil, to release the flavours of the spices, much the same way as we would with some of our Indian dishes. Then, in goes the coconut milk, followed by the veggies. Vegetable stock is used to water down the thickness of the coconut milk. Chilli and basil are the last to go in, so that they don’t cook for too long and lose their flavour or colour to the heat. And Voila! We have Veg Thai Red Curry a la moi. Dish it up, add a sprig of basil and it looks too good not to taste, so that’s exactly what I do. And it’s yummy indeed.
Thai Chef, Seefah Ketchaiyo, who’s directing our culinary adventure spares us the pestle pounding for the Chicken Green Thai curry, that’s next on our list, by giving us dollops of ground curry paste; that recipe goes just as smoothly as the first. The pale barely green colour of the curries we create is perfect, she tells us. In fact, it is the overly green curries that some places serve that we need to be worried about. Seefah proceeds to grate, mix and dish up a Papaya Salad in a few quick minutes, making it seem as if Thai cooking is the easiest thing on Earth. Of course, I shall reserve that judgement, until I go try all this out in my own kitchen. Until then, do try making the Vegetarian Thai Curry (recipe alongside). It really is as easy as it sounds.
Veg Thai Red Curry
Serves: 1 to 2 people (depending on your appetite)
Preparation time: 20 min
Ingredients
15gm broccoli
15gm cauliflower
15gm baby corn
15gm zucchini
15gm pea eggplant
15gm Thai white eggplant
2gm Kaffir lime leaf
5gm big red chillies
5gm Oriental basil
Seasoning
150gm coconut milk
5gm salt
5gm sugar
Red Curry Paste
30gm dry chilli
10gm shallots
5gm garlic
zest of one Kaffir lime
coriander root
5gm lemon grass
5gm galangal sliced
2gm toasted coriander seeds
2gm toasted cumin seeds
5gm whole white pepper
2gm salt
Method
Pound the ingredients of the red curry paste together, in the order listed above. Ensure that each ingredient reaches a paste-like consistency before adding the next, for a uniform flavour and texture. Fry the paste over medium heat, stirring until the aroma of white pepper fills the air. Add coconut milk and stir. Throw in the vegetables and seasoning. Simmer until cooked but not soft. Add vegetable stock to thin the coconut milk. Finish by adding Thai basil and chillies. Avoid boiling for too long after adding the basil or it may lose its colour and fragrance.