Vegan Thai yellow curry

I have really been missing Thailand lately after spending months in and out of Bangkok last winter. The sun and the lush vegetation were so wonderful. The food was also what I love. It was so easy to eat the kind of food that I love and easy to have those things veganized.

In the south of Thailand in Krabi town, I had some delicious curry and in Bangkok a friend made a curry I will never get out of my mind. We ate it on a picnic in Chatuchuk park. It was a lovely time.

Today I had to fix up some Thai inspired curry to help satiate my longing. I chose yellow this time. I am no expert at Thai food but I put together the basics and came up with a spicy soothing yellow curry.

For the basic paste I used lemon grass stalks, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, chilies, and galangal.
I used about three inches of the bottom of the lemongrass chopped up. three kaffir lime leaves around 1 tablespoon minced galangal root and 5 chilies. I chopped everything before putting it in the blender.

I added toasted dry spices and then blended everything together to make a paste.

Dry ingredients
1 1teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1teaspoon turmeric
1/teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon white pepper

I wanted to buy a mortar and pestle but the store nearby where I last saw them doesn't carry it anymore. I didn't have time to go to Chinatown. So when I use a blender to make the paste I have to add liquid to make it blend. I added water bit by bit and lime juice. When it starts to blend I stop adding liquid.

The amount of liquid in the paste will determine how much you put in the curry. This is why I wanted a mortar and pestle. I would love a good food processor but I will have to wait until the restaurants open and we have more hours at work.

It was kind of a clean out the fridge day so I put in what I had. This included tofu, cauliflower, carrots, and peas. First the onions, garlic, shallots and ginger were put in a hot pan to saute.