Saturday Night Makeaway: Thai Tofu Curry

I don't think I'm the only one in this country who relents to that naughty tradition of ordering takeaway when it gets to the weekend. The connotations behind it are simultaneously celebratory and relaxing; you've made it through the hard and tiring working week and are completely entitled to a reward, and for someone else to do all the work. HOWEVER, whilst this does make perfect sense and I'm guilty myself of agreeing and acting upon the notion, when you think about it logistically it seems a bit silly. Would it not be more logical to treat yourself to a takeaway on one of those terrible working days, when you've got home late and the thought of cooking is the last thing on your hungry, tired mind; and cook up a beautiful storm when the weekend is yours - when you have the time, energy and attitude to experiment in the kitchen and put some soul into something delicious and homemade?

It seems sensible to me, so I excitedly employed the philosophy this Saturday night. The cuisine of choice was Thai. My favourite Thai takeaway and restaurant ever ever ever, Yelo, closed down around a year ago for reasons, as far as I'm aware, are unknown. It was an awesome little hidey-hole in the ever popular and hipstertastic Hoxton Square, which was surprisingly cheap for the hopelessly trendy area it was in. Most importantly, they gave amazingly delicious and quality Thai dishes and delivered them to our humble little flat in Bow for free. Needless to say, it was devestation all round when I discovered they had gone, as quietly and sneakily as we found them.

Besides the exquisite flavours, one of my best things about Thai food is I never have to worriedly state my 'allergy to tomatoes' and wait in fear, expecting the things to have made it into the dish somehow anyway - because they're a rare addition in this cuisine. So my Saturday Night Makeaway was a bit of an homage to the mindblowing tastes, favourite restaurants and fearless eating that Thai food has brought to me.

When making a Thai curry I will nearly always make the paste from scratch; I'm not a fan of shop-bought sauces (except pesto!) and find that blitzing up garlic, onion, green chilli, ginger, lemongrass, lime, coconut, basil and coriander is one of the most rewarding things you can do - not just for the ridiculously fresh and beautiful taste but also the aromas you release into the house. That said, for this particular recipe I had JUST discovered a wonderful little pot of green harissa from Unique Foods, and was super keen to use it in something. So this time around, my paste was essentially pre-made - but like I said, all you need to do is blitz the above ingredients if you want to make your own.

Thai Tofu Curry

1) Marinate the tofu: just cube your tofu and place it into a large, sealable dish, then chuck in all your other ingredients and give it a shake. I think it's important to do this at least 6 hours before you're going to be making your dish, but I equally know this isn't always possible (this Saturday included). When his happens, I always stick the tofu in the oven while I'm making whatever it is I'm making - this helps the flavours to sink in and also crisps the tofu up a little bit.

2) If you're putting your tofu in the oven, do it now, just as you're starting. Heat some oil in a wok, and chuck in the spring onion. Keep a good few pinches of the onion back so you can use it as garnish at the end. Then add in the herbs, and make sure you include the stalks. Typically, I would be inclined to use coriander in a Thai dish, but never be afraid to improvise when what you expected isn't available. The combination of parsley and basil worked gorgeously for this. Next is the ginger - I use the Lazy jars because they come in white wine vinegar which adds to the dish. Then your garlic, chilli, lime, and finally the pastes. Give it a good mix and add the coconut milk. Stir, turn down the heat, and don't let it boil!

3) Meanwhile, heat another pan with a small amount of oil and then add your vegetables. Stirfry for a good few minutes so they get a little crispy, then add to your coconut wok. Get the tofu out of the oven - eat one now, as they're too good by themselves - and then add them to the wok as well. Leave for a few minutes so it all heats through.

4) Make the garnish: put your reserved spring onion, basil and parsley in a bowl and add the peanuts. I crushed mine all together with my mojito muddler.

5) All done - serve the curry with rice and sprinkle the garnish with extreme generosity.

I guess the good thing about Thai takeaways is that - usually - they taste much fresher (and even healthier) than your other typical takeouts. But the good thing about a homemade Thai is that it tastes even fresher than that. AND - it was made in the same OR LESS amount of time than it would take for a takeaway to arrive. Sounds like a pretty rewarding Saturday to me...

Serves: three
Took: 30 mins (plus the marinating, which took less than 5 minutes)
Things that went wrong: The VT-BF complained that we didn't get takeaway. I didn't care.