If you have left over rice, you can make this Thai red curry fried rice in 10 minutes. This is a quick, easy meal and a great way to use up left over rice and vegetables. Add some scrambled tofu or a couple of scrambled eggs to add extra protein to this fried rice recipe.

Blanched asparagus, or broccoli, or frozen mixed vegetables will also work in this instead of the green beans. I just happen to think green beans taste nice with Thai red curry paste.

Day old rice is best for fried rice. Also called overnight rice, day old rice it is drier than freshly made rice, so it absorbs flavors nicely, and the rice grains stay separated. If you don’t have left over rice from the previous day, make rice like you usually would (should not be mushy), then spread it out on a plate and place it under a fan or in the fridge till it is completely cooled.

Check out Jaden’s secrets to cooking the best fried rice.

Fried Rice with Thai Red Curry Paste and Green Beans Recipe

serves 4-6

3 cups cooked jasmine rice, preferably a day old (brown rice, wild rice or basmati will also work)
20 haricots verts or green beans
1 tablespoon or according to taste, thai red curry paste
2 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
1 small red pepper, diced
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, lightly crushed
Chopped cilantro, mint or thai basil for garnish

Trim the ends of the green beans, and cut them in half. Bring a medium saucepan full of water to a boil. Salt the water generously. Add the green beans, and boil for about a minute or till the beans tender but still a little crisp. Drain the beans. Fill the pot with cold water and enough ice cubes to make the water very cold. Dunk the beans in the ice water. This will stop the cooking process and keep the beans bright green and crisp. Drain well.

In a small bowl, whisk the red curry paste, soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons water together till they form a paste. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok. Add onion and sauté till translucent. Then add red pepper, and sauté for about a minute. Add the drained green beans, and the whisked red curry paste. Stir on high heat for about 30 seconds.

Add cooked rice (must be cooled) to the wok. Using a wide spatula, gently and quickly stir the fried rice to incorporate everything.

Top with crushed peanuts, fried garlic slices, chopped cilantro or mint or thai basil.

Optional: add 2 scrambled eggs to the fried rice.

This fried rice tastes better the next day!

I fell in love with the flavors of gado gado when I first tasted it in Indonesia. It is a quick, easy, healthy salad that you can serve as an appetizer, as a salad course, or pack for office lunch. Typically, the vegetables and peanut dressing are tossed together, or the peanut sauce is poured over the vegetables. Here, I serve it deconstructed on a platter, with the peanut sauce or sambal kacang on the side for dipping.

In Indonesia, the peanut dipping sauce is prepared by pounding together roasted peanuts, garlic, palm sugar, chillies, and shrimp paste. I left out the shrimp paste to make the gado gado vegan. I used peanut butter instead of roasted peanuts – a great shortcut!

The gado gado I had in Indonesia was served with tomato wedges, beansprouts, tofu and boiled eggs. You can use absolutely any vegetable you like. For this recipe, I served the gado gado peanut sauce with steamed broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks, baby radish and rice balls.

Lontong inspired rice balls

These rice balls are inspired by Indonesian lontong (or Ketupatin some parts of Asia). Lontong is cubes of compressed, cooked rice, that is sometimes served with gado gado. Traditional lontong is made by half cooking rice, packing it into a banana leaf lined mould, steaming the rice in the mould, and then cutting it into cubes or discs.

I love the taste of lontong, but wanted to make something quicker but similar for the gado gado. So I simple rolled cooked sushi rice into balls, and coated the rice balls in sesame seeds. Simple, and delicious!

Oil your hands, and scoop a tablespoon of cooked sushi or sticky rice. Using your palm and fingers, gently squeeze the rice into a ball.

Roll the rice ball into a nice round shape. Roll ther ice ball in toasted sesame seeds.

More Gado Gado recipes

Indonesian Sambal Kacang recipe (peanut sauce for gado gado) from the book Indonesian regional cooking

Agado gado recipe from Rasa Malaysia

Gado gado surabaya style on Indonesia eats

Street sidegado gado making in central Java, Indonesia

Gado Gado with Peanut Sauce Recipe

serves about 6

for Peanut Dipping Sauce (Sambal Kacang)
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 fresh green chili chopped, (use 1/2 for milder sauce, or leave it out)
Salt
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon jaggery or palm sugar or regular white sugar
2 tablespoon lime juice
2 cups hot water

Place the garlic cloves, green chili and salt in a mortar and pestle and pound into a paste.

In a small bowl, add the garlic paste, peanut butter, sugar and lime juice. Pour in hot water a little at a time, while whisking the peanut butter. Stop pouring the hot water when the peanut butter forms a smooth, dippable sauce. You may not need to use all of the hot water.

Taste the peanut sauce and adjust salt, sugar and lime juice if needed. Serve with vegetable crudites.

for Rice Balls with Sesame Seeds

makes about 6 balls

1/2 cup sushi rice (or other similar glutinous, sticky rice)
1 cup water
salt
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon sesame oil

Place rice, water and salt in a pan. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to simmer, place a lid on the pan, and cook till rice is done, about 15 minutes. Let the rice cool a little.

Spread sesame seeds on a plate.

Rub a little sesame oil on your hands (so rice doesnt stick). Scoop about 1 tablespoon of cooked rice, and using your palms, form the rice into tight balls. Roll the rice balls in sesame seeds. Rub your palms with more sesame oil if needed. Repeat till you use up all the rice.

Serve rice balls with peanut dipping sauce.

the vegetables
Choose 5 items from this list, and serve about 1 cup each on a platter, along with peanut dipping sauce (recipe above)

Cubed, fried tofu
Pan fried Tempeh pieces
Tomato wedges or cherry tomatoes
Cucumber slices
Green and red pepper strips
Bean sprouts
Baby radish
Carrot sticks
Celery sticks
Boiled potato
Blanched green beans
Lightly steamed broccoli
Rice balls (recipe above)
Boiled egg
Tortilla chips
Pretzel sticks

I am blessed to I have friends whom Ive known since childhood. These are the people I can be myself with and I know will support me through anything.

One such friend is Vidya. As children, Vidya and I hung out in each others’ houses all the time. We’ve shared much, and had a lot of fun together. And through the years, no matter where in this world we were, we’ve kept the close friendship going.

A few winters ago, Vidya drove up from North Carolina to visit me. She came bearing a tub of marinated olives and a delicious merlot. We sat in my kitchen late that night, talking, eating, drinking and watching the snow fall. We were warmed by friendship and wine.

Vidya then made us a midnight snack – Israeli couscous with cumin and roasted peanuts. We chatted and sipped wine as Vidya cooked the nutty, chewy, cumin scented dish. There we were, old friends, in the middle of a winter’s night; cooking, laughing and enjoying the sisterhood of a 20 year old friendship.

Thankyou Vidya, for so much more than just this recipe.

Vidya’s recipe for israeli or pearl couscous is a shortcut version of Indian sabudana or sago kichdi. The traditional recipe uses sabudana (tapioca pearls). But I like Vidya’s version with israeli couscous, its easy to make and you really cant mess it up. This is a great, 10 minute vegan snack or side dish.

Israeli couscous, also called pearl couscous or mograbiah or ptitim is a type of pasta from the Levant region. If you dont have pearl couscous on hand, sustitute with cooked orzo or tapioca pearls.

Check out this curried Israeli couscous (mograbieh) recipe on gourmet sleuth. Vegan Yum Yum has a simple, vegan recipe for lemon pearl couscous.

But its this  couscous and mograbhia (israeli couscous) recipe on Dana Treat that really reminded me that I havent made this israeli couscous recipe in a while. Dana said she has a big load of israeli couscous and is always looking for recipes. Dana, this is for you  

I use 1/2 cup peanuts in this recipe, which is on the peanutty side. Thats how I like it. If you feel this is too much, reduce the amout of peanuts to upto 1/4 cup.

Israeli Couscous (Pearl Couscous or Mograbiah) with Roasted Peanuts Recipe

serves about 4 as a side

for the couscous

1 tablespoon oil
1 cup israeli couscous or pearl couscous, uncooked

for sauteing

1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
a few curry leaves, optional
2 green or dried red chillies (or according to taste), chopped. Use jalapenos instead if you dont want it too spicy.
1/2 cup roasted peanuts, crushed lightly (this will be on the peanutty side, reduce the amount of peanuts if you wish)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt

Heat oil in a large non stick skillet. Add couscous. Stir the couscous on low heat till it turns color and becomes light brown. Add 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover the skillet and simmer till all the water is absorbed, 5-7 minutes. Couscous should not be mushy. 

While, couscous is cooking, take a wok, heat the oil and add cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add the curry leaves, and green or red chillies and cook for about 15 seconds. Add the cooked israeli couscous, peanuts, lemon juice and salt. Stir well. Turn off heat. Adjust lemon juice according to taste. Add cilantro. Serve warm.

I love Thailand for its sensuous food, elegant people and spectacular sights. Out of the 30 or so countries I’ve visited, Thailand is easily on the very top of my favorites list. Here, I share with you some pictures of Bangkok – a city that is a beautiful mélange of ancient culture and modern lifestyle. You will find serene Buddhist temples along the Chao Phraya river. And a hop away, you will find racy go go bars in Nana plaza. It is incredible that these cultural extremes co-exist. With its night life, beautiful Wats (temples) and amazing food, Bangkok is a truly exciting place. If only Bangkok was cooler, Id move there in a heartbeat!

Above: Wat Pho in Bangkok;  the gigantic reclining Buddha with mother of pearl in His feet

The most memorable part of my trip to Thailand is of course, the food. Thai cooking is seductive; and I cant think of a better recipe to showcase the beauty of Thai food like this one. Salty soy sauce, rich, sweet brown sugar, fresh zesty lime, crunchy, nutty peanuts, hot chillies, and crisp, sour mangoes. Every flavor in the world is packed into this mango salad.

Traditional Thai mango salad doesn’t have tofu in it. I added tofu to make this salad more filling.

Some tips:

Make this salad a day ahead and store it in the fridge. The flavors get so much better the next day
Only use raw, green mangoes (not the ripe yellow ones)
Leave out the chili if you prefer a milder salad
Add strips of pan-fried tofu to make this salad heartier
If you dont have a mortar and pestle, use a food processor to crush the peanuts

Thai Raw (Green) Mango Salad with Tofu Recipe

serves about 4

2 large green, raw mangoes
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
2 shallots, peeled
1 thai red chili (use more or omit according to taste)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
a few sprigs cilantro
6 oz firm tofu, drained (optional)
Salt

Peel the mangoes and cut around the pit. Discard the pit. Grate the peeled mango using a box grater. Alternatively, slice the peeled mango into very thin strips.

Place the roasted peanuts, peeled shallots and red chili in a mortar and pound to a rough paste. Add this crushed peanut mixture to the shredded mango.

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar and lime juice. Add this to the shredded mango and peanuts. Toss well. Taste and add salt if needed. Garnish with cilantro. Serve chilled.

To add tofu to this salad: Drain tofu and pat dry. Cut it into thin strips. Pan fry the tofu strips in a little oil till golden. Toss the tofu with the mango salad.