Sweet-Hot Green Curry with Plantains, Peas, and Carrots

Zingy fresh green curry paste makes a sweet-and-spicy main dish when mixed with coconut milk, plantains, peas, carrots, and red pepper. Toasted cashews add crunch and texture.

This is the last recipe I made with my shipment of Hatch chiles from New Mexico. Click here for scalloped potatoes with roasted Hatch chiles, and here for Hatch peppers stuffed with quinoa, veggies, and cashew cheese topped with cilantro-lime sauce.

You can make this recipe with your own freshly made curry paste (recipe below) or store-bought curry paste.

Suitable for:
vegan, gluten-free, reduced-sugar diets

Not for:
low-sodium or migraine diets

Thai Green Chile Curry Paste
Makes about 1 cup, depending on the size of the chiles
1 bunch cilantro, stems only
12 small or 6 large garlic cloves
2 oz. (60 g) ginger root
6 lime leaves* (also called makrut) omit for migraine diet
2 large or 4 small shallots
3 stems fresh lemon grass
4 large hot green chiles, like Hatch chiles (use hot red chiles for Thai red curry paste)

Everything goes in the blender or a good food processor:
Wash the cilantro, shake it dry, then chop up just the stems. Reserve the leaves for another dish.

Peel the garlic, ginger, and shallots, chopping each into a medium dice.

Using kitchen shears, remove the ribs from the lime leaves and chop.

Peel all the outer hard leaves from the lemon grass, then finely slice the soft end near the bulb.

Wash the chiles, then remove the tops, roughly chopping them. Include the ribs and seeds if you want a really hot curry paste.

I added just enough water to get it to blend, as I don’t have a good food processor. You want to blend or process it into a fine paste. Store just a couple of tablespoons in the refrigerator, freezing the rest in small containers for use later.

Notes: If you can’t get lime leaves, you can use lime rind. Just make sure you peel it very thinly, taking just the top layer. You can make this without these specialty ingredients, but it will taste less authentically Thai with the subsitutions. Thanks again to Melissa’s Produce for the Hatch chiles. I was not paid to write this post.

All of our recipes are gluten-free, sugar-free, and made with plant-based ingredients to help you build a healthy life. Look for midweek posts on meditation, service, and life lessons, helping you create inner balance.

Sweet-Hot Green Curry with Plantains, Peas, and Carrots

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Dinner

Cuisine Asian, Thai

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 shallots large
• 2 plantains large
• 1 cup peas fresh or frozen (130 g)
• 2 carrots large
• 1 bell peppers red
• 14.5 ounces coconut milk light or regular
• 1-4 tbsp curry paste (Thai green) recipe above
• 1 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin) grapeseed oil
• 1 tbsp fish sauce vegan or regular
• 1 tbsp Bragg's liquid aminos (or tamari)
• 1 handful basil leaves (fresh) Thai basil preferred
• 1 handful cashews toasted, chopped

Instructions

 

• Put 1 C. of brown or white jasmine rice on to cook.
• Thaw peas in a colander if frozen.
• Peel the shallot, slice in half, and finely mince. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or large sauté pan.
• Peel the shallot, slice in half, and finely mince. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan or large sauté pan.
• Add the shallot and begin to sauté. Add the curry paste and fry until it releases lovely aromas.
• Scrub the carrots, then cut on the diagonal into thin disks or half-moons. Add to the pan.
• Remove the skins from the plantains and dice into small cubes. Add to the pan and cook until golden brown.
• Remove the core, ribs, and seeds from the bell pepper and cut into medium dice. Add to the pan.
• Add the coconut milk, peas, Bragg's or soy sauce, fish sauce, and basil and stir to mix thoroughly. Bring just to a boil, then turn the heat down a bit (it should just barely be bubbling) and simmer for 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Serve over rice, garnished with chopped toasted cashews.

Notes

Per serving:

• 239 calories
• 11 g fat
• 5 g saturated fat
• 2 g monounsaturated fat
• 0 g polyunsaturated fat
• 0 g trans fat
• 0 g cholesterol
• 630 mg sodium
• 504 mg potassium
• 33 g carbohydrate
• 4 g fiber
• 14 g sugars
• 6 g protein
• 7 Weight Watchers Points Plus

If you can't get plantains, you can use new potatoes. Cut them into small cubes and put them in the pan first, with the carrots, so they have enough time to cook. The curry will be a little less sweet. You can also use store-bought Thai green (or red) curry paste, unless you're on a low-sodium diet.