RECIPES - A Wonderful Zesty Thai Prawn and Spinach Curry

Before we were married we backpacked through South East Asia from Thailand through Laos and Cambodia. The food and adventures were stellar. We have spent countless meals deliberating on whether the flavours matched up to those taste tingling memories.

I first discovered these flavours in Tom Kha Gai in a beach hut restaurant. The spicy sister Tom Yum was too hot for me, and I was recommended this zesty, fragrant coconut broth that I instantly fell in love with. I followed many recipes since and battled to find galangal on many an occasion. However, this version with ginger provides all the flavour with readily available ingredients. It began with Mary Berry’s reliable ‘Everyday’ cookbook from which I have gleaned several trusty family favourites.

This is one of my favourite curry soups to make at home. You can easily make it vegetarian by skipping the prawns. I have also used it as a base for steaming mussels and it is spectacular.

Curry Paste

3 cloves garlic

2cm ginger

1 stalk lemongrass

1 shallot / small onion, diced

3 tbsp coriander

1/2 red chilli

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar / maple syrup

Blend all of these together until they make a paste.

Add to your heated skillet and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring. The kitchen will fill with the most wonderful smells.

Curry Ingredients

1 400ml tin coconut milk

1/2 cup vegetable / fish stock

Zest and juice of a lime

Kaffir lime leaf (optional - adds losts of flavour and you can remove it at the end)

Add these to the paste in the skillet now. Stir and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes to allow the flavours to come together. At this point I like to strain the sauce to make a smooth flavour base for the prawns and veggies, but this is not strictly necessary.

15 prawns, peeled

Handful of chopped mushrooms

6 quartered cherry tomatoes

Large handful washed spinach

Add these to the curry sauce and simmer until the prawns are pink and the vegetables cooked / wilted.

Serve with extra coriander, sliced red chilli and slices of lime. It goes well simply as a soup or with some fragrant jasmine rice as a main course.