Enjoy this fragrant spicy and tangy Thai soup with coconut milk in the comfort of your home.

Cook Time: 45 minutes | Serves: 4

Ingredients: 
For Vegetable Stock: 
➤ 6 cups of Water
➤ ½ an Onion (large dice)
➤ 4-inch Radish (large dice)
➤ 4 cloves of Garlic (smashed)
➤ 3 Cilantro Roots (smashed)
➤ ¼ tsp. White Peppercorns (cracked)

For the Soup:
➤ 2 cups Vegetable Stock (unsalted)
➤ 1 ½ cups Coconut Milk 
➤ 1 tsp. Salt
➤ 1 Lemongrass (the white part)
➤ 1 root Galangal (use ginger if you cannot find galangal)
➤ 5 Kafir Lime Leaves (hand-torn)
➤ 3-4 Thai Chillies (smashed)
➤ 2 tbsp. Soy Sauce
➤ 1 tsp. Palm Sugar (finely chopped)/ Brown Sugar
➤ 150 gms Button Mushrooms (sliced)
➤ 1/2 cup Tamarind Paste
➤ 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice 
➤ 4/5 shallots
➤ 2/3 tbsp. Sesame Oil
➤ A bunch of Green Onion/ Coriander (for garnish)
➤ 4 tsp. Chilli Oil

Preparation:
➤ Crack the peppercorn. 
➤ Slice the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and keep them ready. 
➤ Cut the galangal with your knife and smash it so it releases its aroma into the soup. 
➤ Tear the kafir lime leaves with your hand and remove the stem. 
➤ Finely chop the palm sugar. 
➤ Take some bird's eye chilli and loosely chop it after smashing it with the back of your knife. 
➤ Chop the white ends of the lemongrass after smashing it with the back of a knife. 
➤ Juice a lemon and set it aside. 
➤ Finely chop some spring onions or coriander leaves for garnish and set them aside.

To make the Tom Kha Paste:
➤ In a mortar and pestle, pound the lemongrass, shallots, chillies, galangal & tamarind paste together with some salt. 
➤ Pound this till you get a rough paste. 

To make the Stock:
➤ Add all the ingredients to a large stockpot and let it simmer. 
➤ Reduce it to half. Adjust with hot water if required. 

To make the Soup:
➤ Bring the vegetable stock to a boil along with some salt. 
➤ Add in the coconut milk, lemongrass, Tom Kha paste, kafir lime leaves and sugar 
➤ Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the peppercorn, half of the soy sauce and sesame oil. 
➤ Add in the mushrooms and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes until they are cooked. 
➤ Turn off the flame and finish with lemon juice
➤ Adjust seasoning with soy sauce & sesame oil. 

To Serve:
➤ Ladle it onto a soup bowl. 
➤ Top with green onions and cilantro. 
➤ Add a few drops of chilli oil. 
➤ Serve as is or with a portion of jasmine rice.