1/2 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced fresh lemon grass*
1 tbsp dried kaffir lime leaves**
2 tsp red curry paste (follows)
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup canned coconut milk
Directions
* - or 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
** - or chopped fresh lemon leaves
=======================================================
============== ===
1. In a 1 1/2 to 2 quart pan on high heat, bring to a boil white wine,
fresh ginger, fresh lemon grass (or lemon peel), kaffir lime leaves
and red curry paste. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
2. In a blender, whirl mixture with cornstarch and coconut milk until
smooth. Return to pan (with 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves if not
using fresh, following). Stir sauce over high heat until boiling. If
made ahead, chill airtight up to 1 day. Reheat to simmering; if
needed, add coconut milk to thin. Stir in fresh basil leaves. Use
hot.
Servings: 6 servings
Basil-Coconut Curry Sauce Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Fruit; Sauce
The History of Recipes
Food historians have traced the existence of recipes back into the distant past, at least as far as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and possibly even further than that. In practice though, in the main part, these early cook books were just basic hieroglyphic instructions for food preparation.
Fascinatingly, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to Professor Solomon Katz, are a few tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel exhilarated. As our culinary historical trip moves on a few more years there are two interesting books published in the 14th Century - a recipe book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, these two books are nothing to do with the indian food that we all know today, but rather descriptions of the types of food on the menus of the rich and wealthy people of that time. Over the following few hundred years, the powerful families of Wesstern Europe competed with each other to serve up the most extravagent banquests, and because of this cooks and their recipes were highly sought after. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 1800s that haute cuisine and recipe books rose to prominence. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, dedicated the best years of their lives to collating, trying out, and publishing recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. By the arrival of the 20th century, recipe publications were in high demand, as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having more free time and being a little richer. The introduction of television brought us cooking programs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, permitting us all to search through massive numbers of recipes like those on sites such as the one you are reading now. |
We hope you enjoy this Basil Coconut Curry Sauce recipe.
