Red curry paste

Name: Red curry paste recipe
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients: 10 dried red chillies, deseeded; 2 lemongrass stalks; 5 makrut lime leaves; 1 long red chilli, deseeded; 1 red Asian shallot (from Asian grocers); 4-5 garlic cloves; 10 coriander stems (without leaves); 6g coriander seeds; 4g cumin seeds; 2g peppercorns; 10g fresh galangal (from Asian grocers); Zest of 1 makrut lime (from Asian grocers); 1 tsp shrimp paste (kapi, from Asian grocers and selected supermarkets)

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1 cup

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by delicious. team

delicious. team

Jun 26, 2024

This red curry paste recipe is wonderfully versatile and perfect to use with home-cooked curries and soups. Bursting with aromatic flavours and spices, this recipe includes fragrant ingredients such as lemongrass, dried red chillies, makrut lime and shrimp paste to create a full-bodied curry paste you'll return to again and again. Spice things up and start cooking!

This recipe is an edited extract from Thai Home Cooking by Orathay Souksisavanh, published by Murdoch Books, RRP $49.99. Available in stores nationally.

10 dried red chillies, deseeded
2 lemongrass stalks
5 makrut lime leaves
1 long red chilli, deseeded
1 red Asian shallot (from Asian grocers)
4-5 garlic cloves
10 coriander stems (without leaves)
3 tsp (6g) toasted coriander seeds
2 tsp (4g) toasted cumin seeds
1/2 tsp (2g) whole white peppercorns
10g fresh galangal (from Asian grocers)
Zest of 1 makrut lime (from Asian grocers)
1 tsp shrimp paste (kapi, from Asian grocers and selected supermarkets)

Method

1.

Soak dried chillies in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain well.
2.

Remove base and hard outer layers of lemongrass and finely slice the centre section. Remove stem and rib from lime leaves and slice leaves. Roughly chop the long red chilli, shallot, garlic and coriander stems.
3.

Using a mortar and pestle, pound the drained chillies, coriander seeds, cumin seeds and peppercorns. Place all ingredients and 1/2 tsp fine salt in a tall container and use a stick blender to make a paste, or pound using a mortar and pestle.