I went to the shop to buy jackfruit. I came home with bamboo shoots and thai red curry paste. This is very common for me. I often go into the shop with the ingredients for a specific recipe in mind. I then see another ingredient and the original plan for dinner goes completely out the window.

I hadn’t cooked with bamboo shoots before and I was intrigued. These little beauties are only 20-30 kcal per 100g, making them ideal for bulking up meals. But what meals? I popped “bamboo shots recipe” into Google and over 3 million results were returned. I opted for a BBC recipe for Thai red curry – I often look to BBC Food for recipe guidance and inspiration.

But I didn’t just want to make a curry. I wanted to do something different. And so, Spicy Bamboo Shoots with Sticky Rice was born – a recipe that I will definitely be returning to. To make this recipe vegan-friendly, replace the milk with coconut milk and the natural yogurt with coconut yogurt. Not the traditional accompaniment to a Thai curry, I used arborio rice as I felt the texture was ideal for what I had in mind. Asian stores stock the proper “sticky rice” if you fancy trying it.

Hope you enjoy!

Amy x

Ingredients
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 tin (225g) bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
1 tsp thai red curry paste
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tsp cornflour
Approx. 100ml milk
1 tsp coconut cream
2 tbsp natural yogurt
Sticky rice, springs onions and coriander, to serve

Method
Heat the oil over a medium heat and cook the shallot, ginger, garlic and half of the chilli for 5 minutes. Add in the bamboo shoots and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Mix in the curry paste, tomato puree and cornflour, coating all the vegetables, followed by the milk, coconut cream and a splash of boiling water. Leave to simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often and adding a splash of water or milk if the sauce becomes dry.

Remove from the heat and stir in the natural yogurt.

Serve immediately with a garnish of spring onion and the remaining red chilli, alongisde coriander-infused sticky rice.