I was lucky enough to make a Red Curry Paste right in Bangkok.

We’d booked a whole day of recipe-making ; boy, was it tiresome ! But no regrets ; with my companion, we learnt how to make Pad Thaï, Pad See Ew, Red Curry paste, Green curry paste, and several more.

I remember that the Red Curry Paste recipe was a tad simplified, so that us foreigners wouldn’t be too disheartened when trying to find some ingredients in our home countries -hello, Kaffir Limes, or shrimp paste.

But to the valiant heart, nothing is impossible ! I managed to gather all the needed ingredients quite easily, in a single store. Granted, you need to find a large Asian store, with a wide fresh produce section ; or you could order online what’s missing.

Once the gathering of ingredients is done, you’ll need some physical strength and a bit of patience. Yes, you’ll have to earn this amazing red curry paste the hard way. Grinding dried red peppers, even when rehydrated, is an art. Be prepared to spend a good 10 minutes on it at least -but it will depend on your physical strength, and your peppers. The other fresh ingredients are much more easily pounded into the paste.

To summarize the whole process, you will :

• Rehydrate your chilies ;
• Chop up every ingredient in small pieces, to make it easier to grind ;
• Grind your peppers first ;
• Grind the rest of your ingredients (shallots, lemongrass, kaffir lime zest….).

I know that other recipes will tell you it is fine to use a food processor instead, and it probably is, but I cannot speak for it as I have not tried yet. There is actual science behind the interest of grinding instead of blending ; try it with a garlic clove, if you can. Crushing it will produce a much more pronounced flavour compared to mincing it, as it breaks more of the cells and releases more of the aromatic compounds.

Traditional Thaï Red Curry Paste – Recipe

Ingredients, process – Advice & key points

• As indicated above, find a large Asian store, with a wide fresh produce section, to find the two kinds of chili peppers needed, Kaffir limes, lemongrass, galangal, cilantro roots and shrimp paste ; or, you could order online what’s missing.
  • Chili peppers : You’ll need two kinds :
    • Dry spur chilies (large ones), that are not very spicy and make the bulk of your paste
    • Small dry thaï chilies, that are used to make the paste spicy
    • The thin, spicy ones are easy to find ; the large ones, less spicy, can be tricky to find. Use online shops/Amazon if needed ; or, Guajillo peppers if you can access those.
  • Galangal : If you cannot find fresh galangal, you should be able to find frozen, sliced galangal.
  • Shrimp paste : You can find it online easily. I use one with only 3 ingredients : shrimps (80%) and salt (20%). If you’re vegetarian of vegan, you can use miso paste instead.
  • Cilantro roots : Replace with cilantro stems (double the amount). The root part you’d want looks like this :
  • Kaffir lime : There is no good replacement for it. You could, though, use Kaffir lime leaves (available online) instead of kaffir lime zest, by adding it straight to your curry (not your curry paste, as it doesn’t grind very well).
• It is important that you rehydrate your chilies for at least 40 minutes, or your chilies won’t grind properly.
• Do not rush the grinding of the peppers part ! It might be tiresome, but your paste needs to be properly soft to make it enjoyable. Contrary to pesto making, I found it to be easier to grind my peppers by mostly doing up-and-down, pounding motions (lift the pestle and bring it down with force) rather than circular ones.

Using your Red Curry Paste – Pieces of advice

• Very useful trick : Make a batch of Red Curry Paste, then freeze your leftovers easily ! You just have to use an ice cube tray ; then thaw as needed when you feel like eating a curry.
• How to use your Red Curry Paste:
  • In a classic Curry recipe with rice ;
  • In a quick noodle soup such as these Fishballs Red Curry Noodles.

Now let’s pound and grind !

Print Recipe

Traditional Thaï Red Curry Paste

Author: Multicarbs Cuisine: Asian cuisines, Thaï cuisine Courses: Condiment Recipe Keys: Repas rapides Sans maïs Sans œufs Sans soja

Difficulty: Intermediate Prep Time 35 min Total Time 35 mins

Servings: 16

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Description

This is by far the best Red Curry paste I've ever tasted. And that includes when I went to Thaïland.

Ingredients

Servings

• 45 grams dry spur chilies (large, mild ones. Replace with guajillo)
• 15 grams small dried red chilies (Thaï, Chinese or arbol chilies)
• 2 teaspoons coarse salt (grated)
• 1 teaspoon white peppercorns
• 4 tablespoons minced galangal
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bottom half only
• 6 cilantro roots (chopped)
• 1 kaffir lime, zested (zest only)
• 12 garlic cloves (minced)
• 120 grams shallots (minced)
• 4 teaspoons fermented shrimp paste

Instructions

1. Soak and slice

   Soak the dry chilies in water for at least 40 minutes to soften them.

   Once the chilies are softer and pliable, drain them and pat them dry as much as you can.

   Slice quite thinly the lemongrass, galangal, cilantro roots, kaffir lime zest, garlic, shallots and chilies ; it will be easier to pound.

2. Pound it !

   Add your chilies and salt into your mortar.

   Pound them with the salt. When it starts to form a paste, add the ground white pepper to absorb some excess moisture, then continue to pound until it forms a smoother paste.

   Add the galangal, lemongrass, cilantro roots, and kaffir lime zest, and pound it until quite smooth.

   Add the garlic and shallots ; pound into a paste.

   Add the shrimp paste and pound it in until well mixed.

   Et voilà !! You're done ! 

Keywords: home made, Red Curry paste, Thai Red Curry paste, mortar and pestle, traditional Red Curry Paste, galangal, kaffir lime zest, shallots, red chilies