As our temperatures soar here in the Canadian Rockies for a short time during the summer it seems like an appropriate time to eat entirely raw! This is one of my favourite raw curries blended with fresh pressed coconut milk and raw cashews, lightly dehydrated veggies, and kelp noodles. If you don’t have a dehydrator you can place the veggies on a cookie sheet on the lowest setting in your oven for about 45 min. as an alternative. The curry paste is best kept frozen and is also delicious in a cooked Thai coconut curry. I’ll save that recipe for another blog post! Kelp noodles are found in Asian markets and natural foods stores. They are a clear, thin noodle made from kelp and are rich in iodine and low in carbs. I usually marinate the noodles for an hour or so in enough warm water to cover and 1 tsp. of baking soda to tenderize them before adding to a recipe.
Serves 4
Special equipment needed:
- a vegetable peeler
- a deydrator (or your oven on the lowest setting)
Yellow Curry Paste:
- 2 shallots, peeled and chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
- a 3 inch piece of galangal, chopped (Found in Asian Markets, often frozen) *
- 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp. ground coriander
- 15 dried red chilies soaked to soften in hot water for 20 minutes
- 5 stalks of fresh lemongrass *
- 2 Tbsp. powdered turmeric
- 1 Tbsp. mild curry powder
- 2 Tbsp.chopped cilantro
- 2 Tbsp. miso paste (chickpea miso is my favourite)
- 11/2 Tbsp. sea salt
*to chop the lemongrass, remove the outer layer or two. Cut off the end and then chop the bottom 5 or 6 inches of the stalk finely.
Combine all of the ingredients in a high speed blender to form a smooth paste. You may need to add a little bit of water to the blender to help it along. Spoon the curry paste into a ziplock bag, reserving what you need for this recipe and then freeze the rest. Once frozen you can simply cut off small chunks as needed.
The veggies:
- 1 large carrot, cut into long ribbons with a veggie peeler
- 1/2 red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 cup of zucchini, cut into thin rounds and then 1/2 rounds
- 1 red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup fresh shelled or frozen peas
- fresh mung sprouts to garnish
- fresh basil to garnish
- fresh cilantro to garnish
Prepare the veggies.
Place them in a bowl with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil and 1 tsp. of tamari. Massage the veggies well with your hands to coat. Spread the veggies onto the teflex tray of your deydrator and then dehydrate at 115 degrees F. for about 2 hours. The veggies will soften and appear cooked in consistency.
While the veggies are deydrating, prepare the broth and the noodles.
The noodles:
- 1 pkg. of kelp noodles rinsed and soaked in enough warm water to cover with 1 tsp. baking soda for 1 hour.
Once the noodles have soaked for an hour, rinse them well and then cut roughly into smaller more manageable bit sized pieces. Set aside while you prepare the broth.
The Broth:
- 3/4 cup of raw unsweetened coconut
- 3 cups of warm water
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 2 Tbsp. prepared yellow curry paste or more to taste
- 2 Tbsp. tamari
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
To make the coconut milk, combine the 3/4 cup of raw coconut in a high speed blender with 3 cups of warm water. Blend for about 1 minute. Strain through a nut milk bag.
Discard the pulp. Rinse out the blender and then pour the strained coconut milk back into the blender along with the 1/4 cup of cashews, yellow curry, tamari, lime juice, salt and turmeric. Blend well until combined and slightly warmed by the speed of the blender. Adjust seasonings to your taste, adding more curry paste if you like it spicier or perhaps additional salt or lime juice.
To Assemble:
Distribute the kelp noodles evenly into 4 bowls. Pour the warm blended broth on top of the noodles.
Remove the veggies from the dehydrator and divide evenly over the noodles and broth.
Top with lots of fresh mung sprouts, fresh basil and cilantro!
