Thai Red Curry with Purple Potatoes & Coconut Milk

Thai Red Curry with Purple Potatoes & Coconut Milk

Pair nutrition with comfort in this delicious Thai Red Curry. Chock full of colorful veggies, aromatics, antioxidants, and of course a full jar of red curry paste, this dish makes for ultimate winter comfort food. Feel free to add more veggies and modify to your heart’s content!


Once again, another one of my “wing-it” meals has made it to the blog. Slowly but surely, I am experimenting with beloved cuisines outside of American food, and I am pleased with the results.

Before I get ahead of myself, I must say that this recipe is Thai inspired. I am not from Thailand, and therefore could not create a truly authentic Thai dish. Rightfully, the prowess of Thai chefs is unmatched by a white American, talented as I may be in my own right. Perhaps one day, I will spend extended time in Thailand studying the cuisine — a cook can dream!

This recipe also takes inspiration from what I’ve learned in Indian and Nigerian cooking. Namely, I have used plenty of garlic and ginger, spicy serrano peppers, and red onion — staples in Vegan Richa‘s cooking. I also took a tip from the Iranian Vegan, cooking the red onion in turmeric before adding other ingredients (if you love mushrooms and turmeric, I can’t recommend her Baghali Polo Ba Mahiche recipe enough — it will be unlike anything you’ve tried before! Serving the dill rice with this dish is a MUST — best rice I’ve had in my life).

Pulling from my favorite cuisines, I put together a dish uniquely my own. Not only is it incredibly flavorful with ample amounts of veggies, but it is the ultimate comfort food I need this winter (or any other time of year, honestly). My friends, please enjoy my delicious take on Thai red curry!

Thai Red Curry and side of rice decoratively displayed.

The Ingredients

Layout of all ingredients used in Thai Red Curry.
A great indicator of a healthful meal is a colorful one. The more colors, the better! Spices in particular contain the highest antioxidant concentrations of all plant foods.

Purple potato. These potatoes taste quite similar to any other kind, though I like using them in place of other potatoes when I can as they are more nutrient dense. Richer color in any variety of plant food signals a higher concentration of antioxidants (example: red grapes contain more than green grapes). See the below recipe card for size reference of the whole potatoes.

Vegan butter. For comfort food such as curry, I can’t resist amping up the flavor by using butter as the foundation. If you prefer, use oil instead — I’d recommend California Olive Ranch extra-virgin olive oil, or a neutral oil such as safflower.

Serrano pepper, ginger, and garlic. I’d recommend mincing the four serrano peppers first, and using the yield as a reference for the garlic and ginger quantity. As you can see in the image, there is about the same quantity of each of these ingredients. While I have attempted to provide exact amounts in my recipe card, ginger and garlic clove sizes can vary widely. What’s important in this recipe is using roughly the same minced amount of each, so that the flavors come through perfectly balanced.

Red bell pepper. I love the sweet flavor of red bell peppers, but please feel free to switch it up and use any color. You could even use a combination — one green and one red, one yellow and one orange, etc!

Red onion. I can’t get enough of red onions — I just love their flavor. They are delicious in this recipe, though other types of onions would work too and yield a slightly different flavor.

Curry paste and tomato paste. How great is it that we can buy delicious Thai flavor that’s already prepared in a little jar? Yes, we will be using the entire jar! If you don’t have tomato paste, feel free to omit — it shouldn’t significantly impact the flavor.

Coconut Milk. Sticking with the Thai Kitchen theme, I used their brand of coconut milk in this recipe. However, any brand of coconut milk will do as long as it’s unsweetened.

Spices. I love the technique of cooking red onion in turmeric — it is a delightfully tasty combination, and makes for a very flavorful base in a variety of dishes. While the spices here lend themselves to Indian cooking, they add flavor and nutrition without detracting from the Thai flavor.

Nutrition Tip: For a curcumin (active compound in turmeric) absorption boost, add some black pepper to the pan when you add the turmeric. Combining turmeric with black pepper can boost curcumin absorption by up to 2000%.


The Steps

Butter, onions, turmeric, and garam masala cooking in pan, forming the base of the Thai Red Curry.

Preheat a pan on medium, then add butter once hot. When butter is completely melted and sizzling, add red onion, turmeric, garam masala, and black pepper if you wish for enhanced nutrient absorption. Mix and cook for one to two minutes until aromatic.

Garlic, ginger, and serrano pepper added to Thai Red Curry.

Clear out a circle in the middle of the pan, and add ginger, garlic, and serrano pepper. Allow to sizzle for a few seconds, then mix in with the onion and cook for about a minute until aromatic.

Red bell pepper added to Thai Red Curry.

Add the bell pepper. Mix and cook one to two minutes.

Thai Red Curry paste and tomato paste added to Thai Red Curry.

Add the curry and tomato paste, mix to evenly coat ingredients. Cook a minute or two until the paste is heated through and has the chance to start merging with the other flavors.

Potatoes and coconut milk added to Thai Red Curry.

Add the purple potatoes and coconut milk, mix.

Bay leaves and salt added to Thai Red Curry.

Add the bay leaves and salt. Turn heat to medium high.

Thai Red Curry reaching a simmer in the pan.

Once mixture begins bubbling, reduce heat to medium low.

Thai Red Curry in pan after simmering for 10 minutes.

Keep the mixture at a low simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, until curry thickens and potatoes are tender. You may notice that the bay leaves have become darker in color.

Thai Red Curry with appealing glean, along with a side of rice decoratively displayed.

Serve with rice, and enjoy!


Hungry for more non-American dishes? Here’s some inspo:

Don’t forget to leave a review if you try this recipe — I love hearing from you, and your input boosts my blog!

Purple Potato and Coconut Milk Thai Red Curry (Vegan)

Pair nutrition with comfort in this delicious Thai Red Curry. Chock full of colorful veggies, aromatics, antioxidants, and of course a full jar of red curry paste, this dish makes for ultimate winter comfort food. Feel free to add more veggies and modify to your heart's content!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Indian, Thai
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Large stockpot
  • Medium-large sauté pan or saucier (saucepan)

Ingredients
  

  • 4 medium purple potatoes boiled whole, then diced into 1-inch cubes
  • 4 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter (½ stick)
  • 1 medium red onion diced
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 4 medium serrano peppers minced
  • 10 cloves garlic* minced
  • 2 inch knob of ginger minced
  • 2 large red bell peppers diced
  • 4 oz Thai Kitchen red curry paste (entire bottle/8 tablespoons)
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 14oz cans coconut milk
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 large Indian bay leaves, or 3-4 regular bay leaves

Instructions
 

  • Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, salt the water until it tastes as salty as the ocean (do not skip this step). Poke each potato with a fork to form small holes, then add to water and boil for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside while you chop the other veggies.
    Image showing the size of the purple potatoes used in this Thai Red Curry.
  • Once veggies are all prepared and potatoes have cooled enough to be diced into 1-inch cubes, preheat a medium sauté pan or saucier on medium heat. Once hot, add vegan butter and wait for it to melt completely.
  • Once butter is sizzling, add red onion with the turmeric and garam masala, mixing to coat evenly. Cook for one to two minutes until nicely aromatic.
  • Clear a small circle in the middle of the pan, and add garlic, ginger, and serrano pepper (so it makes direct contact with the pan surface). Give it a couple of seconds, then mix to combine completely with the onion and cook about a minute until aromatic.
  • Add bell peppers, mix in and cook for about a minute. Add the Thai red curry and tomato paste, mix until it evenly coats the ingredients. Cook a minute or two, just to allow the paste to completely heat up and begin to infuse with the other flavors.
  • Add coconut milk, purple potatoes, salt, and bay leaves. Mix well and increase heat to medium high.
  • Once liquid starts bubbling, reduce heat to medium low. Keep the curry at a low simmer, mixing every couple of minutes until the curry thickens and potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Serve with rice, and enjoy!

Notes

*Make sure the amount of garlic and ginger you cut roughly matches the quantity of the minced serrano peppers. More important than any specific measurement is making sure the amounts of these 3 aromatics are equal, so the flavor can come out perfectly balanced. The serrano peppers make a great reference in this case, so I recommend cutting them first.
Keyword coconut milk, easy, purple potato, red curry, vegan, vegetarian, whole food plant based

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