Thai Red Curry Paste
Thai food is one of the many cuisines we indulge in frequently, and one of our favorites is red curry. It’s a wonderful, fragrant curry that’s got a good amount of spice while still being balanced in flavors. There are plenty of perfectly fine red curry pastes that you can purchase from a grocery store, but most of them are not vegan as they contain dried shrimp paste. You also never know how spicy it’s going to be, and since my two-year old loves a mild red curry I need something catered to his taste buds. By making your own red curry paste you are able to control everything that goes into it such as spice, salt, and sugar, as well as leave out anything that you don’t want, additives, preservatives, and any dietary preferences (in my case the non-vegan stuff).
It’s pretty easy to make your own curry paste. Gather up all your ingredients. Measure out your cumin and coriander seeds and toast them for a few minutes until they start to lightly brown they start to smell amazing. Once they are toasted, you can grind them in a grinder, blender, or mortar and pestle.
You can skip this step and use ground spices if that is what you have available. While your spices are toasting, you can begin prepping the rest of your ingredients. You’ll need to peel the ginger. An easy way to do this is by using a spoon to scrape it clean.
Continue to peel your onion and garlic, and zest your lime. Split the red chilis lengthwise and remove the seeds from one or more depending on the spice level you prefer. The chilis I used were pretty mild, so I only removed the seeds from two. Roughly chop all your ingredients, except the lime, and put them into a blender or a food processor. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice over the top.
Blend until you get a smooth paste. I actually moved everything into my blender to get it to the consistency that I wanted.
Here it is. Zesty, spicy, delicious red curry paste. You can use this to make a curry, or as a marinade for your favorite meat. So easy to make, packed with nutrients, low in sodium and sugars, and free from preservatives. I used this paste to make a delicious vegan red curry for dinner. Check in next week for the recipe!
Thai Red Curry Paste Recipe
Ingredients:
8 cloves garlic
1 red onion or 3 small shallots
1 piece of ginger 2 in long (about the length of your thumb)
3 red chili peppers
4-5 stalks lemon grass
1 lime zest and juice
6 tsp coriander seeds
4 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp agave or 1 1/2 tsp sugar
Directions:
Measure out spices and toast in dry pan over medium heat until they are golden and fragrant. Peel onion, garlic, ginger, and zest the lime. Grind spices in a grinder, blender, or mortar and pestle. Roughly chop all ingredients, except the lime, and place into a food processor or blender. Juice the lime. Add lime juice, salt, and agave to the blender. Blend until it forms a smooth paste. Use immediately or refrigerate in an air-tight container for 3-5 days.
