It was the recipe for a Burmese curry in Everyday Asian by Marnie Henricksson that made me want to keep trying recipes from her book! This book actually got me into trying recipes in general. Before I rarely used recipes and while that is also a fun way to cook, recipes can show you whole new ways of cooking that you haven’t tried before.

My recipe is a vegetarian version of Burmese curry that uses potatoes and green beans to replace the chicken. You could also use tofu. The caramelized onions impart so much rich flavor and the garnishes of fried onions, green onions, cilantro and lime give the dish so much life. Don’t skimp when making the fried onions; they are delicious! You can serve this Burmese curry over Asian wheat noodles (hakka, pancit, chinese wheat noodles, etc.) or rice, or you can even deep fry the noodles so they are crunchy and ladle the curry over it.

Vegetarian Burmese curry was the main dish for the lunch party we had a couple of weeks ago. We had this with the Samusa Soup and Burmese Ginger Salad. I have been meaning to post it ever since. I made a lot (3-4x the recipe) for the party, but have included my basic recipe which doubles the original. We like a lot of sauce 🙂

Garnishes
1 large onion very very thinly sliced
oil for deep frying
3 green onions sliced
1 lime cut into wedges
1/2 cup cilantro chopped

Curry
2-3 tablespoons oil
2 large onions sliced
1 inch chopped ginger
4 garlic cloves sliced
2 teaspoons turmeric
3 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons cumin ground
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can coconut milk
2 cups water
Salt
Fresh or dried Asian wheat noodles
2 medium potatoes cut into chunks
~2 cups green beans cut into pieces

1. Deep fry the thinly sliced onion until browned. Watch the onions carefully because they go from brown to burnt really fast. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.
2. Prep your garnishes: slice green onions, chop cilantro, and cut the limes.
3. Heat oil in a saute pan and add the rest of the onions, ginger and garlic. Cook on low heat for 20-30 minutes until they are nice and caramelized. The recipe says not to rush this and it totally makes a difference. I think this is the key to the dish!
4. Add the turmeric, paprika, cumin and chili powder and cook for a minute.
5. Add the coconut milk, water, and salt and cook for 5-10 minutes.
6. Meanwhile start boiling the water for the noodles.
7. Add the potatoes to the curry and continue to cook.
8. Once the potatoes are part way cooked, add the green beans and continue to cook until both the potatoes and green beans are tender.
9. Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook according to package directions.
10. Place noodles in a bowl, ladle on the curry, and top with the garnishes and a  squeeze of lime.