Singaporean mama food

Another favourite thing to cook for me is laksa, although I acknowledge that the recipe I use is completely inauthentic. I have heavily plagarised Nigel Slater's pumpkin laksa recipe, and I've never actually seen laksa being made before by a Singaporean - but in general I find this version is less greasy than laksas I've eaten in restaurants. The list of ingredients is long, but it is sooooo easy. And it is also a good thing to make for pesky vegetarians.

Connie's completely inauthentic Curry Laksa (serves 4ish)

For the curry paste:
3 large cloves of garlic
Thumb-size piece of ginger
1 stem of lemongrass
Small bunch of coriander (save some for garnish at the end)
Zest of a lime
2 dried chillis
Vegetable oil

For the soup:
1 tin of tomatoes
1 tin of coconut milk
1 pint vegetable stock
Noodles - I tend to prefer thicker Vietnamese style rice noodles, but egg or white noodles are all yummy
2 Kaffir lime leaves
Fish sauce

To serve (any of the below is good, I sometimes have it all!):
Chicken thighs
King prawns
Butternut squash
Spinach
Fishballs

1. Roughly chop the garlic and ginger, and the stems of the coriander, and whizz together with the rest of the curry paste ingredients - add a little oil to help it go round. (This is a great all round curry paste - I normally make too much and always have some in the freezer, and use it as a base for Thai green curries, or as a marinade for grilled prawns or chicken)
2. Fry about 2-3 tablespoons of the paste in a little oil, until your kitchen fills with the lovely smells of coriander
3. Add in tinned tomatoes and let it bubble for a few minutes to let the toms break down a little (little trick clever Dave taught me), before adding in coconut milk, vegetable stock, and kaffir lime leaves, and bring to the boil
4. Add your noodles and bring back to the boil, add a few dashes of fish sauce, and you have your basic laksa soup base to which you can add your variations

Variations:
For chicken - add into the curry paste and fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove, and add back in with the noodles

For king prawns - as above, but add in right at the end to avoid overcooking

For butternut squash - cut the squash into inch cubes and roast with little bit of olive oil for 30-40 minutes. Add in with noodles towards the end

For fishballs - add with the noodles

For spinach - I always put spinach in because it just wilts so quickly - turn the gas off and then stir in the spinach into the hot soup

Here is the version I made tonight, which I managed to eat nearly 3 bowls of (!) - with chicken thighs, fish "tofu", spinach, and Japanese pumpkin (ridiculously cheap here, but what a pain it is to prepare!)