Thai Red Curry Paste

Red curry is a popular, delicious, fragrant Thai dish. The secret of cooking a good Thai red curry like any other Thai curries is a good paste.

Making a paste is so simple and only takes a few minutes, you can make it ahead of time and make more to keep in the freezer. I suggest using a pestle and mortar before blending in a food processor as it makes the most of all the fragrant ingredients and release much more flavour then just blending, however if you do not have a pastel and mortar just blending in a food processor is okay and you will still make a delicious red curry.

Ingredients

• 12 small dried chillies, seeds removed, soaked in water
• 3 tbsp chopped shallot
• 4 tbsp chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 2 tbsp chopped lemon grass
• 2 tsp lime zest finely chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander root or stalks
• 15 white peppercorns
• 1 ½ tsp ground coriander seeds
• ½ tsp ground cumin seeds
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1 tsp sea salt

Method

1. Pan fry the cumin seed, white peppercorns and coriander for a couple of minutes to release an aromatic smell.
2. Crush all the ingredients together using a pestle and mortar, then put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until it becomes a smooth paste.