Phra Mae Thoranii - the Thai Earth Goddess - really has her "thing" together and always makes sure the foods that work really well in harmony, both in terms of taste and their healing, nourishing properties, also conveniently arrive in the garden in large volume, at the same time. And so here, in Northern Thailand, we are currently awash with cheap, gorgeous, organic pumpkins, while the Thai holy basil takes over the garden.
Pumpkin as natural medicine is well documented, Specifically, though, it is rich in beta carotenes, Vitamin A, lutein and zeaxanthin, which significantly lower the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts. While pumpkin is great for everything from weight loss to heart disease, it is particularly a must eat if you have eye issues.
Thai holy basil is not the same as western sweet basil. Ocimum sanctum botanically, it comes originally from India where is is revered as a powerful healing plant and adaptogen, and is known as Tulsi. It grows like a weed here in the hot-dry season, even growing in cracks in the concrete and, as you can see from the plant outside my back door, it seeds itself out everywhere and can easily grow to 3 feet in height. The only sane response is to keep cutting it back hard, and to eat it.
The fascinating thing is that in Ayurvedic medicine, Tulsi is also specifically consumed to protect the eyes. "Regular consumption can protect your eyes from the damage done by free radicals, such as cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, vision defects, and ophthalmia, due to the high antioxidant content of its essential oils, vitamin A, and vitamin C." You can read a LOT more about Tulsi here.
So, with itchy, irritated eyes from the Thai dry-monsoonal-burning season (lots of smoky air as the farmers prepare their land by burning and the indigenous people burn the forests) pumpkin and holy basil red curry it is!!
Arguably this is one of the EASIEST Thai dishes possible and is ready by the time the rice is cooked.
Start with coconut cream, some water and red curry paste mixed together in the wok. Simmer for 2-3 mins to really blend and bring out the flavours.
Toss in the chopped pumpkin so it is mostly immersed and simmer for about 5ish minutes. Thai pumpkin is fairly soft and quickly cooks to mush, so not too long!
What else goes in? You can add most anything, but I prefer simple flavours: today I used red onion (also a HUGE healing food) and Thai straw mushrooms.
I simmered the harder onions with the pumpkin, and put the mushrooms in after 5 mins so as not to overcook them.
Your liquid will be constantly reducing, so top it up with a little water if it gets too dry - you want everything mostly submerged and burbling happily. When the pumpkin is 90% cooked, TURN OFF THE HEAT. Add your holy basil leaves and a generous squeeze of lime, stir and let it rest for at least 15 mins. Thai people would add fish sauce at this point for salty, but I prefer to cook with natural mineral salt, which I add at some point during the burbling part.
Resting the food is critical in Thai cooking to allow the balance of flavours to meld. It also allows the cook to rest and the food to cool, it being rude to serve very hot food at the table. Warm or room temperature is normal, with Thai people preferring the heat from their spices. What to do while the food rests? Tidy up the kitchen and enjoy a drink before dinner.
I served my curry over locally grown black organic riceberry rice (my preferred favourite - even brown rice feels like junk food after tasting this!) with cucumbers on the side.
When we LISTEN to the whispers of the Earth Goddess and observe the abundance She provides, natural medicine needs little thought or planning and can be received and shared with pleasure.
Making a Thai holy basil eyewash would also be on my agenda today!! More about that in another post.
Food Is Medicine. Cook it, Share it and Eat it, mindfully and with gratitude.
Contributing to the @earthtribe. Cos it MATTERS.
I love Thai food! Actually I prefer Thai curries to the Indian ones. The green curry is my favorite. I'm surprised to hear that Thai people prefer to serve food warm or room temperature. I enjoy my meals hot so that wouldn't be my preference but at least I will know what to expect when I'll go to Thailand one day :)
Thank you for sharing and have a great start of the week!
Thai people are always bewildered in restaurants when western people complain the the food isnt hot enough. LOL.... Green curry with loads of straw mushrooms remains on of my favs, even after 16 years living here. Thanks for stopping by. 😊
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Following you. 😊
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Stunned to wake up this morning and see my humble little post has flown out of the $4 starting gate and currently over $16!! Wow. Much gratitude for the curation support and also your steem bounty readers choice - entered and was pleased to celebrate and give a leg up to another awesome steemian. Thank you.
holy cow, how did i NOT think of using pumpkin!>? believe it or not ive bene on a Thai cooking extravaganza this last month. I can finally make pad thai so good that you can close your eyes and be back in thailand.
ok so today im going to try this, ill make a red curry and geet those pumkins out.. i also have a damn stubborn sore throat and this feeels like medicine for it!.. <3
Well... apart from closing your eyes and wishing, we have these things called planes & you are always welcome in my spare room. More steem fam Thai cookups required!! And maybe some more tech remedial coaching. LOL. Consider yourself loved & missed. x
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does this holy basil also taste different then than the sweet basil that most of us know?
it looks delicious girl and yeah this makes me feel like pumping in those green as well!!
It does taste a little different but hard to put into words exactly how. LOL you will just have to come and TASTE (plesse bring drop!) and we can discuss the subtle taste differences over a craft beer. 🍺
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Girl, this sounds like a BRILLIANT idea :D
tasting food, drinking beer, talking about food beer and life...what can go wrong!!
(and eating sick on drop :D)
This sounds absolutely fantastic! Especially paired with that beautiful rice and the fresh cucumbers. Thank you for sharing this nurturing meal!
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Aaaww... and thank YOU for raking a moment to share some appreciation & support. 😊
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Absolutely! Happy to support such great content. 💓
Following you! 😊
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oh my goodness! This is a gorgeous plate of nourishing food. I could eat this every day. I had no idea about the tradition of resting and cooling food, I've always served dishes like this steaming hot so I'll have to try that.
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Let food be our medicine. Delicious medicine at that!
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Wow. I have a hankering for pumpkin curry!
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Oh my, that sure looks delicious.
Am not sure if our local pumpkin will taste the same but I will definitely try to cook this. Do you think it is a good idea to add some meat (pork or chicken?)
You make me some homesick with this recipe and photos @artemislives! I was living in Thailand for two years and can taste it all. I was not growing anything, but I sure was eating every single thing in this dish! I miss the pumpkin and the basil so much now. So cheap and so restorative.
You might want to enter friutsandveggiesmonday with your posts sometimes if you have not already. They are so nice and the contest has great prizes. It's all vegan all the time over there :)