Red Thai Curry Cottage Pie

I first thought about creating Thai fusion dishes about three years ago after I dreamt that I was on Masterchef. When I woke up in the morning, my head was filled with an abundance of ideas and this Thai curry cottage pie was one of them.

Recipe:

500g of mince pork (although you can use Quorn, beef, chicken or any mince really)
400ml of coconut milk
2 tbsp red Thai curry paste (available at most supermarkets and Oriental grocery stores)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 potato
1 sweet potato
1 handful (approx 100g of Cheddar cheese)

Method:

Peel the potato and sweet potato and cut into chunks.

Boil in a saucepan of water on a medium to high heat.

In a frying pan add half of the vegetable oil and fry the mince.

Drain the excess water that appears in the frying pan using a metal sieve.

Return the mince to the frying pan and continue to cook until slightly golden in colour.

Remove from the frying pan and place in an ovenproof dish.

Add the remaining cooking oil to the frying pan as well as the red Thai curry paste.

After a minute start adding the coconut milk gradually. (I didn’t use all the coconut milk on this occasion as this particular brand was really creamy and wouldn’t have made my mixture spicy enough so try it at this stage and see what you think. Bear in mind that the mince and potato will make it less spicy too so you need the sauce to be slightly spicier than you would normally eat.)

Leave to simmer on a low heat while you drain and mash the potato and sweet potato.

Remove the curry sauce mixture from the heat and add to the mince in the oven proof dish.

Top with an even layer of the potato mash and then the cheese.

Place in a preheated oven, gas mark 5 (375 Fahrenheit and 190 degrees C) for 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden and slightly crispy.

Serve with seasonal vegetables or a garden salad.

Please let me know if you try out my red Thai curry cottage pie recipe. I really hope you like it. You can watch me make this dish on my YouTube channel. While you’re there, don’t forget to like and subscribe… It’s free. Bx

Thai Fishcakes (Tord Mun Pla) video and recipe

Thai fishcakes are often eaten in Thailand alongside a main meal with rice. In the UK, many people will eat it on its own as a starter. However it is consumed, this quick and simple recipe was a firm favourite with our customers at my mum’s restaurant and with students at our cookery school.

Below is the video which we uploaded to YouTube. You can also view it by clicking on this link: Thai Fishcakes.

Ingredients

500g fish paste, defrosted
200g green beans, thinly sliced
4 keffir lime leaves, very thinly sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 tbsp of water
Cooking or vegetable oil, as needed (up to 1 litre)

For the dip

2 inches of cucumber, quartered with the seeds removed and then sliced
2 tbsp crushed salted peanuts
2 tbsp of chopped coriander
4 tbsp of sweet chilli sauce

Mix the sugar, fish sauce, water and curry paste in a bowl.

Add the defrosted fish paste, green beans and lime leaves.

Using approximately 1 heaped tablespoon or a golf ball size of the mixture and make a mini patty.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or saucepan on a medium heat. Slowly drop in the patties and fry for about 2 minutes or until brown in colour with crispy edges.

In a serving bowl, combine the peanuts, coriander, cucumber and sweet chilli sauce.

Fishcakes 2

I hope you enjoy our Thai fishcakes. Please let me know if you make Thai fishcakes with this recipe and tweet me a photo @beth_denny.