Thai Phanaeng Curry

Curry again?

Yes, it seems I have made a curry 2 days in a row. But oh, well-- they're both different and both yum.
I have to admit, this is a non-curry curry. Why? 
Well, because I didn't put any curry paste in it. We didn't have any, so I just omitted it. The 'curry' therefore is essentially spiced and reduced coconut milk. That's not to say that it didn't turn out well-- in fact it wasn't bad at all. But even if you want to avoid making your curry spicy, I would recommend you add at least a smidge of some sort of curry paste to give it a little more flavour. 

Phanaeng Curry
From The Vegetarian Table: Thailand, by Jackie Passmore
(Just as a side note, isn't that a hilariously coincidental last name for a chef?)


Note: We made a slightly altered version of the curry (apart from omitting curry paste). We were already having a fried eggplant dish on the side, so we didn't put eggplant in this, too. We substituted the mushrooms with chopped green beans, we pan-fried the tofu instead of deep-frying it and we roasted the peanuts instead of deep-frying them. If you're using coconut milk powder, make quite a large quantity (more than given in the recipe) because you won't get much sauce. Also, your sauce may seem like a lot when you first put it in with the vegetables, but so much will evaporate and you'll be left with really little. So do add water as instructed or make more coconut milk. If you aren't adding any curry paste, you will probably not need much sugar. Taste and season according to your preferences.