International Recipes
Red Curry Paste
(Nam Phrik Gaeng Daeng - Thailand)
Curry paste is an essential ingredient in Thai curry dishes.
Yield: about 3/4 cup
Ingredients
- 20 peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 13 small dried red chiles, seeded and soaked in warm water for 15 minutes*
- 4 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 3 tablespoons chopped shallot
- 2 tablespoons peeled, chopped lemon grass, using only bottom third of stalk
- 1 tablespoon chopped galangal or ginger
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander root
- 2 teaspoons chopped lime peel (green part only)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
Instructions
- In dry frying pan put peppercorns, coriander seeds and cumin seeds.
- Roast dry spices over low heat, stirring, about 3 to 5 minutes or until spices are fragrant. Cool.
- Grind into a powder in mortar with pestle or in clean coffee grinder.
- Place spices, chiles, garlic, shallot, lemon grass, galangal, coriander, lime peel and salt in blender or small food processor and process until fine.
- Remove paste and put into mortar and continue to pound with pestle until ingredients are a very fine paste.
- Add shrimp paste.
- Store in glass jar in refrigerator or freeze.
Notes
* Wear gloves when handling fresh, canned, dried or pickled chiles; the oils can cause a burning sensation on your skin.
Paste keeps for about 1 week in the 5369refrigerator.