I went to a new local Thai restaurant for the second time a few weeks ago. The first time I went, the waiter wasn’t familiar with the menu, looking confused when I asked him if a dish was vegetarian. His response was to point at the menu and say ‘you have to have the Pad Thai’. I wasn’t too bothered about this, as I love Pad Thai, but the second time I went, I fancied something different and chose the ‘Vegetarian Massaman Curry’ as, with ‘vegetarian’ in the title, you’d assume it would be vegetarian wouldn’t you? Yes, well, I was happily tucking into my curry when I saw something big and brown sticking up out of it – a massive piece of beef. Yuk.
Anyway, unsurprisingly, I haven’t been back to that restaurant but I have fancied a massaman curry ever since and so when I saw a jar of Thai Masaman Curry Paste in Tesco, I bought it and saved it for this week – National Curry Week.
There’s a recipe on the jar that includes lamb, so I switched the lamb for Quorn Chicken Style Pieces and it turned out beautifully.
I accompanied the curry with a plain naan bread from Warburton’s new range. This had been frozen for a few weeks, but after a sprinkling of water and a couple of minutes in the oven, it came out wonderfully soft and fresh.
Also accompanying the curry were onion bhajis, vegetable samosas and pakoras.
You can’t have a curry without some chutney, and I’d recently been sent some Peach & Mango Chutney from The Garlic Farm.
Peach and mango isn’t a flavour combination I’d choose for myself but this was gorgeous. It’s fresh and fruity and is the highest quality chutney I’ve had.
The Meat Eater was a bit worried when he came home and I said that it was National Curry Week as he thought that meant I was going to make curry every day this week. I’ve only got plans for one more curry this week which is a curry pie – everyone likes pies, don’t they?
Quorn Thai Masaman Curry (serves 4)
6 tbsp Tesco Thai Masaman Curry Paste
500g Quorn Chicken-Style Pieces (defrosted)
1 onion, sliced
1 potato, cubed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
400ml coconut milk
Heat the oil in a large frying pan
Add the Thai Masaman Curry Paste and stir fry for 3 minutes
Add the onion, potato and Quorn Chicken-style pieces and stir fry for 5 minutes
Add the coconut milk and simmer for 15-20 minutes