The Kitchen Foodie

The wonders that peanuts can do to elevate a dish is amazing. I love to experiment with peanut-based sauces based on a variety of noodle and rice recipes. So I tried an interesting take on a coconut curry with a Thai inspired peanut paste, a paste that’s just like a Thai curry paste, but instead with peanuts as the main ingredient. That nuttiness you get from the peanuts combined with the richness and creaminess of coconut milk is just an absolute flavourful delight in your mouth. And when you dunk any sort of noodles, in this case flat rice noodles, they just soak up that flavor so nicely. I’m going to keep experimenting and sharing more sauce based recipes just like this. I hope you enjoy my version of these Basil Peanut Coconut Rice Noodles Curry. Slurp away!

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

Peanut Paste:

1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts
1 tsp Fish Sauce
1 tsp Light Soy Sauce
1/2 tsp Honey
1 tsp Sriracha Sauce
1 tbsp Water
1 tsp Oil
1 Red Chilli
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Ginger (grated)
1/2 Lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Others:

200g Rice Noodles (flat rice noodles used for Pad Thai)
8-10 Mushrooms (chopped in half)
3 Green Onions (chopped)
1 Bok Choy (leaves separated)
4-5 Broccoli Florets
2 Red Chillies (chopped)
3-4 Garlic Cloves (chopped)
1 tsp Ginger (grated)
3/4 cup Basil (3/4 chopped, 1/4 whole)
100g Tofu (diced in cubes)
1 Cup Chicken Stock
1 Cup Coconut Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

1. Start with making the peanut paste. Take a pan and roast the peanuts in it, till the peanuts start to brown and slightly charr. Once done, add peanuts to a blender with the remaining peanut paste ingredients. Blend till a nice thick paste consistency is formed. Add water as per preference for paste consistency.
2. For boiling the rice noodles, soak them in cold water first for around 5-10 minutes and then add to boiling water to let it cook for about 2-3 minutes. Check if it’s properly cooked and keep aside. Add a little oil so that the noodles don’t stick to each other while kept aside. (You can always dunk it in hot water again if they start to stick)
3. Next take a big pan, heat some oil, and add your chopped green onions, red chillies, chopped basil leaves, ginger and garlic, and let it cook until the raw smell of garlic and ginger has gone.
4. Add your vegetables like mushrooms and broccoli, along with salt and pepper, and stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms start to shrink and lose water. Then add your Bok Choy and cook for another minute or two till the Bok Choy leaves start to shrivel.
5. Then add your peanut paste, stir & mix around till all the vegetables are nicely coated with the peanut paste, around 1-2 minutes.
6. Now you pour in your chicken stock and coconut milk, and let the curry come to a boil. Add your tofu and cook for another minute, and you’re done. Add salt and pepper to taste. The consistency of the curry should be thick, like thick soup consistency. Next pour your curry over the rice noodles, add some toasted peanuts, green onions and basil leaves as garnish. Squeeze some lemon too if you want to add a little tangy kick to your curry. And you’ve got yourself a super delicious and wholesome meal in a bowl.