Bored eating the same food over and over again? Having difficulties trying out or finding new recipes? Search no more my friend, I have the perfect lazy day recipe for you and since it mostly contains staple stuff it always doesn’t involve a trip to the store! So, here’s my go-to recipe for lazy days and because it’s so versatile it doesn’t really get boring. I usually pair this with rice and I’ve also provided my secret for cooking rice after the sauce recipe!

Let’s go over the ingredients for the sauce:

Around 300 grams protein of choice, I’ve tested this with chicken, lentils, kibbled soy, so go crazy!
Olive oil for frying
1 piece of garlic, I prefer single glove garlic
1 teaspoon red curry paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 pack of pureed tomato sauce (the super smooth kind, 500 ml)
1 can of coconut milk (400 ml)
½ deciliters of sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
Hint of salt if needed
2 tablespoons of brown thickener (Maizena etc.)

Also, if you want you can add cubed bell pepper (which I usually do, just forgot this time) or mushrooms or onion or anything really; as I said, this recipe is very versatile! Pro tip for buying bell peppers: the one with three bumps at the bottom are males and have less seeds and are perfect for cooking. The ones with four bumps at the bottom are females and have more seeds but are also sweeter and thus good when eating them raw.

I find it easiest to cook if I do the mise en place first. That means preparing and measuring every ingredient first (for example, chop the garlic as small pieces you can, cut the bell pepper into bite sized pieces, ect.) and then start cooking. This time I chose kibbled soy as my protein of choice and if you haven’t tried it before here’s my tips for using it: I measured 3 deciliters of kibbled soy to a plate and covered it with the same amount of water. After the soy has absorbed all the water you can use like any other protein!

Let’s start the sauce by adding some oil to the pan and turning the heat on, when the pan has some heat throw in the garlic and sauté it for a short while. Next add in the kibbled soy. I like to cook it for a short while to get a better consistency and to hydrate the excess water out of it, throw in also the curry and ginger paste. Mix it in fully. If you add extra bites, the bell pepper or mushrooms, I’d add them here and cook them a short while, just to soften them up a bit, but leaving some bite to them.

Then it’s time for the tomato sauce and coconut milk to go in and once they’re in just cook it for few minutes. After this add the sweet chili sauce and stir thoroughly. When adding the soy sauce, I recommend adding it gradually, tasting all the while to make sure your sauce doesn’t end up being too salty. Also, a hint of salt can heighten the other flavors so you can add some, but remember to taste, taste and taste! At the end thicken the sauce with the thickener and let it come to a boil so that the sauce thickens and voila – we got ourselves a super yummy and easy sauce!

Serve with rice or noodles or enjoy just as is! Now time for that secret I promised. Ever dreamed of owning a rice cooker? Forget that and learn this instead! This recipe works with any kind of rice, from Basmati to brown rice, so just use your favorite. If you have a certain amount you’re used to cooking, go with that, but for examples sake we’ll cook 3 deciliters. Measure 3 deciliters of both the rice and water. Water can go to into saucepan already. I would suggest rinsing the rice, to get out that excess starch and to make the rice fluffier, but not necessary.

After rinsing add the rice to the saucepan with the water, turn up the heat and wait for the water to boil. Once you see those first signs of the water boiling, turn off the heat fully, but leave the pan on the stove and just cover the pan with a lid. Then set timer for 15 minutes and do not touch the lid before the timer goes off! The sealed saucepan works essentially like a steamer or a rice cooker.

After the timer goes off, I take the pan from the stove and let it sit for a while on its own, around 10 minutes or so, but not a must; just helps with the rice cooker effect. Just fluff the rice a bit before eating and it’s done; now enjoy with the sauce!

Photos by Henna Houttu.