Recipes

Thai Curry Paste

By Andrew Liu

Tasty base for sauces and soups created with Thai inspired flavors

Thai Curry Paste

Calories

120 cal

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

1 hour

Ingredients

  • - 10 Dried Red Chiles
  • - 6 Fresh Red Thai Chiles
  • - 3in Piece of Galangal
  • - 2 Stalks Lemongrass
  • - 1 Shallot
  • - 3 Garlic Cloves
  • - 3 Coriander Roots
  • - 1/2 tsp Shrimp Paste
  • - 1/2 tsp Salt
  • - 1/2 tsp White Peppercorns
  • - 1/2 tsp Whole Cumin
  • - 1/2 tsp Cloves
  • - 1/2 tsp Coriander Seeds
  • - 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
  • - 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • - (Optional) Makrut Lime Zest

Instructions

Making the Paste

  1. Toast the aromatics
    • - Preheat a pan to medium heat.
    • - Toast the whole spices (white peppercorns, whole cumin, cloves, coriander seeds) until fragrant
    • - Place the toasted spices into a bowl with the remaining spices (other than salt)
  2. Pestle the chiles
    • - Add the dried red chiles into a mortar and pestle.
    • - Pestle the chiles until relatively fine.
    • - Add the fresh red chiles, salt and continue to pestle.
    • - Add in the remaining spices and pestle until relatively uniform.
  3. Pestle the remaining ingredients starting the harder ones
    • - Slice/dice the galangal into thin pieces.
    • - Add the galangal pieces and continue to pestle.
    • - Slice/dice the lemongrass stalks into thin pieces.
    • - Add the lemongrass pieces and continue to pestle.
    • - Slice/dice the shallot into thin pieces.
    • - Add the shallot pieces and continue to pestle.
    • - Add in the remaining ingredients to the mortar and pestle.
    • - Continue pestling until all of the ingredients are well incorporated.

Cooking with Thai curry paste

  1. Andrew's Thai Curry
    • When I make Thai curry, I like to use one tablespoon of Thai curry paste per 1 can of coconut cream.
    • I'll start by frying the the curry paste until it is a bit fragrant. Then, I'll add in the coconut cream along with sugar and additional salt.
    • As the sauce begins to become more uniform in color, I'll add in my precooked meat along with some veggies. After the veggies are cooked, I'll turn off the heat and splash in some fish sauce.
    • Finally, to garnish, I'll add some thinly sliced cilantro and Makrut lime leaves.