Oil-free Vegan Thai Yellow Curry Recipe

Delicious Vegan Thai Yellow Curry with Tons of Vegetables and Flavourful Spices. Vegan by Default, Now Oil-free Too!

Whole Food Plant Based Thai Yellow Curry Recipe

Course: Course 2 (Vegetable Dish) and Side Dish for Course 3 (Grain Dishes) at Lunch & Dinner Meals
Cuisine: Thai Recipe
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 6 people

INGREDIENTS

½ head of Broccoli
1 Sweet Potato
1 Carrot
2 Brinjals
1 Bok Choy
1 Capsicum
1 Onion
1/2 Cup Mushrooms
1 block / 200g Tofu
1 inch piece Ginger
10 cloves Garlic
2 Dried Red Chilis
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Dhaniya / Coriander Seeds Powder
¼ cup Coriander Stems & Leaves chopped
½ tsp Black Pepper Powder
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
6 tsp Miso Paste (Healthy Salt Alternative. See Nutrition Science Highlights below)
1 tbsp Date Syrup

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Peel onions. Chop all vegetables into long, bite-sized pieces. Chop tofu into cubes.
2. Cook all chopped ingredients in step 1 with minimal water.
3. In the meantime, peel and crush or grind garlic to a paste. Keep aside for ten minutes.
4. Peel ginger and grind with turmeric powder, dhaniya powder, dried red chilies, and coriander stems & leaves. Once garlic has rested for ten minutes, mix with this masala paste to make thai yellow curry paste.
5. Add thai yellow curry paste to boiling vegetables.
6. In the meantime, grind peanut butter to a smooth paste with black pepper powder, miso paste, date syrup and some water.
7. Once vegetables are cooked just right, remove from stove and mix in peanut butter mix. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve fresh!

Plant Based Chef Pro Tips for Best Thai Yellow Recipe

1. This is a very spicy recipe! Remove dried red chili for a milder recipe, or substitute with a milder chili, such as capsicum or bajji chili, or more black pepper powder.

Nutrition Science Highlights for WFPB Thai Yellow Curry Recipe

1. Why not honey, sugar or jaggery? Sugar and Jaggery are processed foods. Although jaggery is healthier than brown sugar, which, in turn, is healthier than white sugar, all forms of processed foods are unhealthy when compared to whole plant foods. Honey is healthwise as good as jaggery, which isn't saying much. In addition to not being very healthy, honey production kills millions of bees every year, affecting our environment adversely. The best sweetener alternative is a whole fruit or dry fruit. The easiest method of using these is date syrup, as it does not involve peeling or chopping.
2. Why Miso Paste? Miso paste is fermented & salted soya bean paste. American Heart Association Maximum recommended maximum daily salt intake of 3.75 grams per person to minimise risk of high blood pressure, stomach cancer and chronic kidney disease. In addition to helping us restrict salt intake, replacing salt with miso paste also helps by neutralising the negative effects of salt by soya phytonutrients. You can easily make fresh miso paste at home by mixing 100 grams of cooked soya paste with 10 grams of salt, or 10 tablespoons of cooked soya paste with 1 tablespoon of salt. If making at home, ensure to use immediately, or freeze in batches to use later. Or, simply use 3.75 grams of salt or less per day per person and add 18 to 20 grams (dry weight) of soya beans in any dishes, spread through the day!
3. Why not dairy? Dairy products have been found to be associated with increased risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, asthma, PCOS, and heart disease. We can still enjoy our milk, cream, and butter though - as long as they are made from whole plant foods!
4. Why crush garlic and wait? When garlic is chopped, crushed, ground or bitten into, two chemicals stored in different parts of garlic's cells combine in a chemical reaction to form allicin. This is a slightly bitter compound that deters insects, but happens to be very beneficial to our health. Allicin helps reduce blood pressure and protect the heart and other organs, fight off lung infections, and reduce inflammation. Unfortunately, cooking destroys one of the enzymes required to form allicin. This can be overcome by crushing garlic and keeping it aside for ten minutes while the chemical reaction takes place. Once allicin is formed, it is heat stable and can be safely cooked. Alternatively, some raw garlic can be added after cooking, to a dish that has cooked garlic in it.
5. Is tofu healthy? Although tofu is technically a processed food (Soya fiber is strained out while making tofu), it is still beneficial for health! That's how amazing legumes are. Eat as much as you like, as long as it isn't roasted and browned, because that has carcinogenic compounds. Whole soya is even healthier than tofu!
6. Why nuts instead of oil? Whole foods are healthier than processed foods. When nuts are pressed and oil is extracted, fiber and phytonutrients are lost, along with many other nutrients. Therefore, whole nuts are much healthier than oils, whether cold-pressed or refined. In addition, they provide the oil content we need to absorb fat-soluble phytonutrients from other whole plant foods! This may be why nuts are used to garnish nearly every traditional Indian dish!