Thai green curry with lots of veggies and Kra Chai (wild ginger)

By mistake hubby brought me this strange looking herb from the Chinese grocery store which I had no clue to what it was. I was sure that it was not galangal, which I actually wanted. Initially I as quite skeptical and was wondering if it has gone bad or what, as the outer layers looked darker than the centre. But, once I used it I liked this earthy but still so aromatic fragrance of it. It smells distinctly different than galangal or ginger. Recently I went to the Asian grocery shop myself and bought it again and this time there was also a name on it, to my delight. It said "tumicuni". I showed hubby how galangal looks like which was also lying just next to it. So, after searching for "tumicuni" through Google, I found out what it was.
It seems to have many names in English and in different Asian countries and regions. Tumicuni (I think is from Indonesia) or 'Kra Chai'* (Thailand), 'chinese keys', 'wild ginger', 'finger root' or 'galingal' (not galangal). Its binomial Latin name is Boesenbergia pandurata. Here is a good informative page on finger root at Gernot Katzer's spice pages. Just like ginger, galangal or turmeric, it belongs to the ginger family (Zingiberacea) and the part used in cooking is a rhizome.
While searching for a recipe for Kra Chai I came across this recipe of wild ginger at ThaiFoodPlus.com. After seeing how it is really used, I was confident enough to try using it on my own and tried to make something using them with Oregon pink shrimps.

*A couple of days ago I had a Thai friend, also an ex-colleague, visiting me from Regensburg and she told me that the word Kra Chai is pronounced as Kra Shai - \ai\ as i in ice. Through her I also got to know that Kra Chai is a sparely used spice in the Thai kitchen and comes in use for only a few selected recipes.

Thai green curry with shrimps

Recipe by PG of My Kitchen Stories

Ingredients:
150-200 g cold water shrimps (I used MSC certified Oregon pink shrimps)
1 medium carrot, sliced or julliened
1 long stalk bamboo shoot (15-20 cm), cut into 1/2 cm rings or 5 -6 cm vertical slices
10 mushrooms, quartered or halved, depending on size
1/2 green bell peppers, chopped into mouth sized pieces
1/2 red bell peppers, chopped into mouth sized pieces
1 lemon grass, the green part kept as stalks and the white part crushed
a few lemon leaves, each leaf slit a number of times on both sides of the midrib
1 large red onion, chopped
1 large garlic, chopped finely
1 inch ginger, chopped or grated fine
1 small stalk of Tumicuni (Kra Chai or wild ginger), finely chopped
1 tsp Thai green curry paste** (I used Lobo)
2/3 can coconut milk, shaken before opening (we used up all of it , as it turned out to be too hot)
a few dashes fish sauce
salt to taste
1/2 packet Thai basil, the leaves - washed
a few tbsp coriander leaves (cilantro), washed , pat dried and chopped
1 tbsp oil for frying

** It is the hottest of all the Thai curries!! Very Very HOT!

Method:

• thaw the shrimps at room temperature (you can also add them directly from the freezer into the curry)
  
  
  
  
• wash, clean and chop vegetables and spices and set aside
• heat 1 tbsp oil ((or 2-3 tbsp coconut milk) in a sauté pan (or wok) and add onion, garlic, ginger, tumicuni and lemon grass and fry
  
• add the vegetables one by one, frying each for a minute before adding the next on medium heat
  
• if required add a few tbsp coconut milk in between
• add the green Thai curry paste and stir
• add coconut milk and cook for a while, stirring in between
  
• add the shrimps - depending on if they are thawed or not, add them either shortly before the curry is done or cook for longer till done
  
• add fish sauce and salt to taste and the basil leaves about 1 or 2 minutes before the curry is done
• serve warm, garnished with cilantro, to steamed rice

This was a rich and flavourful curry. Beautifully aromatic because of the Thai basil, coconut milk, cilantro (fresh coriander leaves) and, of course, all the spices like Kra chai, ginger, and the Thai spice curry paste. Needless to say, it was a wonderfully tasty curry. But, there was a one big problem. : it was HOT! Despite my having used just 1 teaspoon, it was horribly hot. I had to add lots of coconut milk to reduce the hotness, not only for sunny boy, but also for me and hubby.
And then when I told my Thai friend about the hotness, she told me it is the hottest of all the Thai curries. Well,.......now I know it for sure, never to forget it again! She suggested that I use the yellow curry paste as a mild alternative, which I will do next time. So, if you think fiery hot food is just the right thing for you, then go ahead and try this Thai green curry.
But, after adding more coconut milk from the can, the curry became mild enough for us, but not for sunny boy. For him I took out the vegetables and the shrimps and mixed with plain coconut milk which was alright for him then and he enjoyed eating it too.

Herb scones

We had these scones for breakfast this sunday along with scrambled eggs. I still have this lovely aroma of the fresh hebs in my mind. It is a wonderful recipe from my old cookbook, it being one of the first cookbooks with a lot of baking recipes. And I had made these scones before, about 5 or 6 years ago. While going through the book, I found it again. This is the original recipe with my modified version at the end. So, here it goes:


Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 15 minutes
Oven temp: 225 ° C (convection oven: 200 °C)

Ingredients:

6 tbsp mixed fresh herbs, washed and chopped finely (like oregano, lemon balm, cress, other wild herbs)
200 g flour
50 g wheatflakes
1 tsp baking powder
1 level tsp salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
50 g butter
5 tbsp sour cream (10 % fat)
1 egg
butter for the baking tray

My eggless recipe:
6 tbsp herbs - oregano, lemon balm and mint (all from my garden), washed and chopped finely
200 g wheatflour
50 g oatflakes, soft
1 tsp baking powder
1 level tsp salt
1 pinch chilli powder
50 g butter, cut into small cubes
3 level tsp sourcream (10 % fat)
3 level tsp sourcream / schmand (24 % fat)
4 tbsp milk
butter for the baking try


Method:

• wash and finely chop the herbs.
• Preheat oven to 225 °C (200°C). Put butter on the baking tray.
• Mix flour, oatflakes, salt, pepper and baking powder thoroughly.
• put small cubes of butter over it.
• add both the sour creams and the herbs.
• Knead the dough and roll out 2 cm thick (1/2 ") on a flat surface with the help of some flour.
• Cut out 12 circles and put on the baking tray. OR:
  
• make 12 balls and press them flat with the help of some oil on the hands.
• I skipped this step: whisk the egg a little bit and brush the scones with it.
  
• Bake them in the oven for 15 minutes.
  
• Instead of the eggs I used: After about a minute, put some milk over the scones with a brush.
  
• Serve warm with chutneys, or sauces or just fresh cheese.