Description
This easy, 20 minute Vegan Chinese Curry is loaded with healthy vegetables, vegan chicken, and lots of tasty sauce!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 medium white or sweet onion, sliced
- 2 bell peppers, sliced
- 2 cups potatoes, diced
- 1.5 cups snow peas or peapods, trimmed
- 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained, optional
- 8 oz can bamboo shoots, drained, optional
- 2.5 cups vegan chicken broth (see note 1)
- 8 oz soy curls, optional (see note 2) + 1.5 cups vegan chicken broth or water for rehydrating
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1-2” ginger, minced (to taste, use less for mild curry)
- 2 tbsp curry powder (to taste)
- 2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (to taste)
- Green onion for garnish, optional
- Cooked rice or noodles for serving, optional
Instructions
- If using soy curls: Soak them in vegan chicken broth or water for a few minutes to rehydrate them, then squeeze out some of the liquid before cooking them. Dry-fry them in your large pot for a few minutes over medium high heat and then remove them and add them back in at the very end. They’ll soak up any excess curry liquid and they won’t disintegrate. If you soaked them in broth, add that broth to your other broth to use in the curry.
- Saute the onion, garlic, and ginger: Saute onions in water--you can use broth or oil if you like. Let the onions start to stick a bit, then add a splash of water and repeat for 3 minutes.
- After the onion is cooked , add garlic and ginger and saute those for a minute.
- Add the spices: Scrape the veggies to the side of the pan and add the spices straight to the pan. Stir them around for about 30 seconds until they start to clump--then add the broth and potatoes. You can add your other veggies whenever you’d like -- for softer veggies, add them at the same time as the potato. I like my bell peppers, snow peas, and water chestnuts to still have a bit of crunch, so I added them after the potato was cooked through.
- Let it simmer: Bring to a boil then turn down to a medium simmer and cook, covered, for about 4-5 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
- Add back the soy curls: If using soy curls, add them now and stir well, letting it soak up some of that excess curry liquid. Chinese curry is meant to be liquidy (different than the takeout or take away we get here in the Western hemisphere) but I really like how the soy curls soak up just enough of that delicious sauce.
- Serve it up: Serve the curry over rice or noodles and sprinkle with fresh green onion and or thai basil. If you like it spicy, add a shake of chili flakes.
- Store the leftovers: Refrigerate curry and rice separately, so the rice doesn’t soak up all the liquid. This will last up to 5 days in an airtight container. Curry flavors only improve after the first day, up until the 4th or 5th day. Freeze in a freezer safe airtight container for up to 3 months.
Notes
- Note 1: For broth, I made vegan chicken broth using my favorite kitchen shortcut, Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base. You can also use carton vegan chicken broth or just use vegetable broth.
- Note 2: Finally, if you want to add vegan chicken, I used Butler soy curls to create a delicious chicken texture that, when soaked in the vegan chicken broth, actually tasted a lot like chicken! Instead of soy curls, you could use tofu or tempeh. For a non-soy protein boost, you could just use chickpeas or seitan chunks.
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Entree
- Method: Stove top
- Cuisine: Chinese
Keywords: Vegan, Oil-Free, Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Sugar-Free, Can Be Soy-Free, Vegan Chinese Curry