Twenty years ago, when celebrity chef Jamie Oliver released his first cooking show called “The Naked Chef”, he made it clear that his show won’t be about his work as a professional cook right in the show’s intro. Cooking at home is very, very different from what the professionals who cook for a living do in their line of work. At home, small glitches and even bigger issues can be overlooked – in a professional setting, there is no room for error. At the same time, the food served at a restaurant has far less of the chef’s personality – the dishes on the menu must have a consistent quality that can be infinitely reproduced. These are all things that are pretty well-known even for those not working in the hospitality industry. There are, in turn, quite a few things that one can only find out when actually working in a restaurant’s kitchen. And no, this is not about the secret ingredients used by professional chefs – those don’t exist.
The ingredients
Professional chefs use pretty much the same ingredients that you may have in your kitchen. Sometimes, even the same brand. The only true difference between your kitchen at home and the one at a restaurant is the quantity. Restaurants will not buy a dozen eggs or a single bottle of vegetable oil. Instead, they purchase everything in large quantities – in bulk. There are a few products that are meant to be used in a professional setting but these are usually nothing but quality products in large packs – a two-pound piece of chocolate instead of individual bars, a 10-kilo box of butter, and so on, and so forth.
The preparations
Professional chefs don’t have half an hour to prepare a bowl of soup but they have days to prepare a complex and sophisticated recipe. This may sound like a self-contradiction but it’s not. A chef can spend hours reducing a demi-glace (a rich, brown sauce used as is or as an ingredient in many other sauces) at the right pace for it to have the perfect taste or texture or to cook a piece of delicious meat sous vide – but only during the downtime of the restaurant. When, in turn, there are patrons waiting for their food, a chef has to work super efficiently. During rush hour, chefs often have just a few minutes to finish and plate a dish. They work for hours upon hours to prepare so when the busiest time of the day comes, they will only have to serve the food they prepared during the day.
The recipes
Most dishes you’ll find on the menu of a restaurant are very easy to prepare. Well, of course, there are exceptions but most recipes are about maximizing both the patrons’ experience and the efficiency of preparing them. Part of the dishes is prepared well in advance before they are served (the sous-vide meat I mentioned above would be a great example) and another part is prepared on the spot, in just a few minutes, like a steak, for example. After all, there is no time to waste during the rush.
Thai veg green curry recipe made with green curry paste made from scratch. A vegetarian / vegan friendly recipe. Recipe with step by step pictures.
Ever since I saw the Chef Show on Netflix , I have been wanting to try Jitlada’s famed green curry recipe. I have adapted the recipe to suit my Indian kitchen and I have made it as a vegetarian version. The original recipe uses shrimp paste and fish sauce but I have not used them for making my curry paste today. I never thought it would be so easy to make curry paste from scratch. It tastes so good that we have been repeating the recipe almost every alternative day. I add a lot of veggies to the curry. The taste is so comforting and delicious.
Here are other Asian recipes from the site Asian Recipes
Here is the video of how to make Thai green curry recipe
Galangal, Lemon grass, Basil and Kaffir lime leaves are required for making the curry paste from scratch. Galangal is called as பேரரத்தை in Tamil and easily available in country medicine shops (naatu marundu kadai). Kaffir lime is a kind of citron pretty close to the Tamil Naarthangai and it works really well.
First, we will make a curry paste. Here is what you will need. I have used regular lemon skin as I could not get my hands on Kaffir lime. While peeling the lime / lemon skin, make sure not to peel the white pith beneath the skin as it can be bitter. Kaffir lime leaves is something I have not used today as its very hard to come by here. If you can get it, do use a few leaves while making the paste.
Wash, clean and prep the ingredients given above. Galangal is just like ginger but the skin is a little hard. Remove the outer skin of lemon grass, chop and set aside.
Add in all the ingredients to a mixie. Add a little water and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the ground paste. Saute for 5-6 minutes till the paste is almost dry. In Jitlada’s recipe, she simmered the paste in coconut milk and not in oil. I have fried the paste in oil.
Add in a seasoning cube (stock cube) and the salt. Instead of seasoning cube, you can use vegetable stock too.
Add in the palm sugar. Even Jaggery or cane sugar will work just fine.
Prep the veggies and get them ready. The veggies you add is totally your choice. I have used Beans, carrot, bell peppers and green peas today. You can also add bamboo shoots, edamame, tofu, sprouts, mushroom, spinach etc…
Once the curry paste is cooked and almost dry, add in the veggies and a cup of water. Add more water if necessary. I add beans and carrots first as they take longer time to cook than other veggies. Cover the pan and cook for ten minutes.
Note: Once the curry paste is cooked and dry, at this stage, you can choose to bottle the paste and store in the refrigerator and use it within a weeks time.
Add in the black pepper powder.
Then add in the cabbage and green peas and simmer the curry for five minutes. At this stage add in the thai chillies and kaffir lime leaves for flavour.
Finally add in the coconut milk, bell peppers and basil. Simmer for a minute. Do not cook for long. Thai green curry is ready. I have used canned coconut milk today.
Serve the curry with rice.
For the curry paste
- 1/2 inch peel of kaffir lime skin or regular lime / lemon skin
- 4 - 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 2 - 3 stalks lemon grass
- 1/2 of a green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup coriander leaves
- 1 inch piece galangal
- 1/2 inch piece ginger
- 6 - 7 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup onion
- 4 - 6 green chillies
- 5 basil leaves
Other Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon oil
- 1 seasoning cube
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
- 500 grams mixed vegetables of your choice
- 1 teaspoon black pepper powder
- 4 - 5 thai chillies
- 2 - 3 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 cup thick coconut milk
- 1 cup bell pepper, cubed (use a mix of green, red and yellow peppers)
- 5 - 6 basil leaves
- Add in all the ingredients under curry paste to a mixie. Add a little water and grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the ground paste. Saute for 5-6 minutes till the paste is almost dry.
- Add in a seasoning cube (stock cube) and the salt. Instead of seasoning cube, you can use vegetable stock too.
- Add in the palm sugar.
- Prep the veggies and get them ready. The veggies you add is totally your choice. I have used Beans, carrot, bell peppers and green peas today. You can also add bamboo shoots, edamame, tofu, sprouts, mushroom, spinach etc…
- Once the curry paste is cooked and almost dry, add in the black pepper, remaining veggies and a cup of water. I add beans and carrots first as they take longer time to cook than other veggies. Cover the pan and cook for ten minutes.
- Then add in the cabbage and green peas and simmer the curry for five minutes. Add in the Thai chillies and kaffir lime leaves.
- Finally add in the coconut milk, bell peppers and basil. Simmer for a minute. Do not cook for long. Thai green curry is ready.
- Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Curry
- Cuisine: Asian
