Panang Vegetable Curry

A friend requested that I make a recipe for panang curry and I got right on it. Often she tells me she can't find certain, more obscure ingredients where she lives so I made sure to create this recipe keeping that in mind. I replaced palm sugar for brown sugar, kaffir leaves with lime zest and galangal root with fresh ginger more commonly found in grocery stores. I only hope my recipe can live up to the Trader Joe's frozen entree dish she is so found of!

Homemade panang curry paste simmered in tons of fresh vegetables like green beans, asparagus, kale, zucchini and corn sprinkled with cilantro and fresh basil. Serve over brown or jasmine rice with extra lime wedges.

Panang Vegetable Curry
2 dried chilies
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1" fresh ginger, minced
sea salt
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 tbl organic light brown sugar
zest and juice of half a lime
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro, divided
8 leaves freshly chopped basil, divided
2 tbl peanut or canola oil
1 1/2 cans coconut milk
1 tsp sambal (hot chili paste)
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 yellow onion, large dice
1 head kale, stems removed, roughly chopped
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
1 zucchini, 1/4" slices
1 corn cob, kernels removed
1 handful asparagus, 1" pieces
1 handful green beans, 1" pieces

Soak the dried chilies in boiling water for ten minutes. Then open and remove the seeds according to your heat preference and finely chop.
With a mortar and pestle (or small blender/food processor) mash the chilies, shallot, garlic, ginger, 1 tsp salt, turmeric, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, lime zest and juice, half of the cilantro and half of the basil into a thick paste.
Heat the oil in a large pan and add the paste. Stir to combine and heat through for 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, sambal and peanut butter. Whisk to combine and simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the onions, kale, broccoli and zucchini and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Remove lid and add the corn kernels, asparagus and green beans. Cook for 5 minutes and taste to adjust for seasonings.
Garnish with the remaining cilantro and chopped basil.