Winter Comfort Food Recipes: Thai Edition

Pratchayatorn Russamee

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Enjoy easy recipe homemade Thai food for a cosy and hearty day in fall—a mouth-watering dish with spice, creamy and yummy Thai curry.

Fall is the harvest season, reminding me of fresh fruits and vegetables, especially pumpkin and butternut. Here I share two of my favourite Thai recipes, which will keep you warm this winter.

The taste and scent of herbs and spices combined with the sweetness of butternut will bring you hearty and cosy comfort food. This menu can also be vegan and non-vegan friendly by swapping some ingredients.  

Butternut Thai Red Curry

Before making a curry, don’t forget to cook the rice. I recommend using jasmine rice as it goes very well with Thai curry.

Here are the lists of ingredients that you need to prepare for serving 1-2 persons:

1. Diced butternut (only half of the butternut is needed)
2. 2 Chili pepper (for decoration)
3. Basil 
4. 200ml coconut milk
5. 3 tablespoons Thai red chilli paste 
6. 1 teaspoon sugar
7. Diced pork or chicken or fried tofu

Method

1. To begin with, boil 200 ml of coconut milk on medium heat. 
2. Wait until the coconut milk is almost boiled, then add 3 tablespoons of chilli paste. Stir until it is well mixed. If it splatters, lower the heat to prevent burning at the bottom.
3. Add diced chicken or pork in the same amount as the butternut (if you are vegetarian, you can add fried tofu after you add the butternut).
4. Add diced butternut.
5. Add another 200 ml of coconut milk. 
6. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and stir to mix it well.
7. Cover the pot and wait for 15 minutes.
8. Check whether the butternut is cooked and softened. 
9. Once softened, add some basil and mix it again (you may add fried tofu at this stage if you are vegetarian).
10. When the butternut becomes tender, serve the curry over rice.
11. Slice chilli lengthways and put it on top of the curry with some basil leaf to level up your presentation.

Voila! – Homemade butternut Thai red curry is ready to be served. Now you can enjoy a delicious, creamy butternut curry with steamed jasmine rice. 

If you think I will end this meal without dessert, then you are mistaken and there is a sweet treat in store for you! Thai people like to also have dessert after the main dish too.

Therefore, I’ll introduce you to another Thai dessert that is easy to make.

Sweet Butternut in Coconut Milk

Suppose we don’t want to be wasteful – we can use the other half of our butternut for dessert. It also uses coconut milk similar to our main dish.

Ingredients

1. ½ diced butternut 
2. 250ml of coconut milk
3. 1/4 cup of sugar
4. 1/3 teaspoon of salt
5. 2 leaves of pandan (not entirely necessary if you cannot find it)
6. 1 cup of limewater

Methods

1. Immerse diced butternut in limewater for 15 minutes (to keep the butternut still fresh and in shape while we boil it).
2. Boil the butternut on medium heat for 5-7 minutes (we shouldn’t wait until it is too softened), then turn off the heat and take it off the stove.
3. Set a new pot over low heat, and boil the coconut milk and pandan leaves.
4. Add salt and sugar and stir until all the ingredients are well mixed.
5. Add boiled butternut to the pot of boiling coconut milk. Boil it for 3-5 minutes (check if it is cooked).
6. Turn off the heat and serve warm in a bowl.

Easy to make, isn’t it? 

I believe this warm, creamy, and sweet dessert bowl can fulfil your autumn meal after your main dish.

I am happy to share these two Thai food recipes you can easily make at home. For these two recipes, you can use any squash, such as Pumpkin, Kabocha or Black Futsu, instead of butternut. This cosy and hearty Thai dish and dessert will surely keep you warm and pleasure-filled without even going to a restaurant.

 

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