Yesterday, I wanted to make a quick yet flavourful meal and was in the mood for something spicy. I found a Thai curry recipe here, and adapted it to be vegan.

The squash was from our allotment and had been stored since September. Baby bear pumpkin, I think.

The curry was delicious! I liked it better than any other Thai curry I’ve made. It does require Thai red curry paste, which is fairly easy to find, though check the label as some brands contain fish sauce. Also be sure to buy red curry paste, not red curry sauce.

Instead of coconut milk, I used creamed coconut, which comes either in a 200g block or a small box of 4×50g sachets. I find the sachets the most convenient. The sachets cost around 60p a box, so one packet works out to just 15p, a lot cheaper than a tin of coconut milk!

Cauldron’s marinated tofu pieces are on special offer at Tesco at the moment for £1.18 (£1 off). They were perfect in this dish, as they absorbed the sauce and added a chewy element to the soft vegetables. You can, of course, fry your own tofu, or use tempeh or seitan.

1. Place creamed coconut into a glass measuring cup and add boiling water until the mixture equals 300ml (1-1/4 cups). Stir to dissolve coconut.

2. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over low heat and fry the curry paste for a minute until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, stir and bring to a simmer.

3. Add the potato and squash and cook, covered, for about 12 minutes until almost tender.

4. Meanwhile, cook the rice. Put rice in a fine strainer and rinse under running water. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add rice. Lower heat and cook at a gentle boil for 10 minutes, or until rice is tender. Drain well, then return to pot and cover.

5. When potato and squash are almost tender, add the rest of the vegetables and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Add tofu, then cover and cook for another 3 minutes, until tofu is hot. Season with salt to taste.

7. Spoon curry over basmati rice and sprinkle with fresh coriander (cilantro).

Makes two servings.

I don’t think this is terribly authentic… anytime I’ve had Thai curry in a restaurant, it’s with lots of sauce and not many veg. This recipe is the opposite… lots of veg (plus tofu) with a nice bit of sauce coating them.

Now for the “mystery” vegetable. I know what it is… but do you? Hint: we grew it on our allotment this year, and just today harvested the first of the crop. It was one of several veg in the curry, and it’s rather difficult to distinguish in the photo above. So to make it easy for y’all, I’ve included a photo of it in its raw and nekkid state:

Thai curry (non-authentic version)

1. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Gently fry garlic & ginger for 30 seconds (do not brown).

2. Add creamed coconut plus water to equal 400ml/13 ounces (or substitute coconut milk). Heat until creamed coconut melts (or until coconut milk is hot). Add curry paste and salt to taste.

3. Add vegetables in stages, harder vegetables like potatoes will need more cooking time than softer ones like courgette (zucchini). (Total cooking time will be about 10-15 minutes, depending on which vegetables you’ve used.)

4. When vegetables are almost done, add tofu and continue cooking until vegetables are tender but not mushy and tofu is heated through. Stir in coriander (cilantro) if using, and serve over rice, noodles or quinoa.

Makes two large servings.

This is a dee-lish all-in-one meal. Not sure the recipe is authentically Thai (hence Thai-style noodles), but it’s a tasty dish that comes together very quickly after all the chop-chop-chopping is done.

I made this dish tonight with summer squash, broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms and celery, but you can substitute different vegetables. Any suitable for a stir-fry would work, like cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, green beans, mange tout (snow peas), baby corn, etc etc. It looks best if you use a variety of different-coloured veggies.

I use creamed coconut mixed with water as a substitute for coconut milk, as it’s a lot less expensive, has no preservatives and uses a lot less packaging. The type that comes in individual 50g sachets is the most convenient. (The one I buy is made by Patak’s, and is available in most supermarkets… in the UK, anyway.) But you can substitute coconut milk.

I use dried eggless Chinese noodles, though do check the label as a lot of Chinese noodles are made with eggs.

There is ample protein owing to the coconut milk and cashews, but you could of course add strips of fried tofu or seitan if you were really craving a protein hit.

This recipe serves two, though if you’re feeling peckish (or is that piggish?), you can add another dish; tonight we served this with crispy veggie duck (made with beancurd skin… bought alas, not homemade).

Thai-style noodles

1. Boil the dried noodles in boiling salted water for 4 minutes, or as package directs. Drain, rinse with cold water and set aside.

2.  Empty the sachet of creamed coconut into a measuring cup and add water to equal 225ml (7/8 cup). Transfer to a small saucepan and heat gently until creamed coconut melts. (Alternatively, substitute 225ml (7/8 cup) canned coconut milk for the creamed coconut/water.)  Whisk in curry paste until smooth.

3. Heat oil over medium heat in a large wok. When hot, add salt to taste; then add ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add onion and the remainder of the vegetables, and stir-fry for 4 or 5 minutes, until veggies are softened but still crunchy. If it looks really dry, add a teaspoon or two of water.

4. Add coconut milk mixture and noodles. Continue to stir-fry until very hot.

5. Add cashews and serve immediately.

Makes two servings.