The Swiss grocery market is dominated by two co-op chains, Migros and Coop. They both seem pretty OK: good quality products at reasonable prices and a very good selection of local fresh products (vegetables, fruit, eggs, and milk all from the region). They are also enormous juggernauts, with associated banks, cell phone plans, department stores, and even legal services. You could have a whole Migros life if you wanted. That said, there isn't nearly the same variety of products that I am used to in an urban American grocery store.
So imagine my excitement when I found a little hole-in-the-wall in Vevey called, I kid you not, "Ethnic grocery." It was a crazy mishmash of any and all kinds of foodstuffs that were not Swiss, in a tiny 2.5 aisles store. I purchased the following: peanut butter (from Africa!), green plantains, ketchup, red curry paste, coconut milk, dried chickpeas, and tahini. The last couple of weeks have been a festival of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tostones, hummos, and curries!
Which finally brings me to the recipe I wanted to post. Red curry risotto, which is really just a lazy red curry. You need the following:
1 cup dry risotto rice
One bouillon cube dissolved in a little more than one liter boiling water
1/3 cup white wine
Red curry paste (generally in the ethnic aisle of any big US supermarket, in a little glass pot)
1 small can of coconut milk or half of a regular sized one
Vegetables, in small cubes, any that sound good to you
Vegetable oil
Salt
In a skillet or pot, saute your vegetables in a little oil and half a tablespoon of curry paste until they are mostly done. I just made this with a few small potatoes, a carrot, a zucchini, and a little onion. Also excellent with eggplant. Set the vegetables aside.
In another skillet, add tablespoon of vegetable oil and turn to medium heat. Add the risotto rice and stir until the rice is hot and coated in the oil. Add the wine and let it bubble mostly off. Add the bouillon 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup at a time, adding more when the last batch is mostly absorbed. Stir every once in a while, but you don't really have to hover over it constantly.
After about 15 minutes, or after most of the bouillon is gone, add in the coconut milk, and 1-2 tablespoons of curry paste depending on your tolerance for heat. The stuff can be pretty hot! Once that's incorporated, add the vegetables and stir. It should be pretty soup-y. Let this cook for another 5-10 minutes, until the liquid is more or less absorbed and the rice is cooked. Add more of the bouillon if necessary. When it is done, the rice should be chewy but not get stuck in your teeth and it should have the consistency of a proper risotto. Serves 3 people as is, or add some meat or tofu and it should easily serve 4.
This is already a pretty lazy dish, but if you're feeling even lazier use a small bag of frozen peas and carrots. Skip the part where you saute the vegetables, just throw the frozen ones in at the end and they'll defrost!
