Thai Red Curry Paste

Old Reliable…

Having been inspired by a lovely lunch at my friend’s farmhouse I set about making my own Thai red curry paste.  Having been a number of years since I had ventured to “whizz” this unique combination of ingredients into a fiery red paste I set about finding a recipe to refresh my memory. Naturally the first stop was my collection of cookbooks specialising in Eastern & Thai cuisine, can you imagine my surprise when page after page of recipe made the assumption that the viewer would use store bought paste!! Frustrated but undeterred I turned to the old reliable “Delia” where I located a user friendly recipe & some delicious serving suggestions….  JJ

Ingredients & Costing…
Lemon Grass Stems x 4	0.69
Red Chillies x 4 medium	0.25
Fresh Ginger x 2 heaped tsp grated	0.25
Shallots x 4	0.40
Fat Clove of Garlic x 6	0.30
Coriander Seeds x 4 tsp	0.05
Cumin Seeds x 2 tsp	0.05
Limes x 2 (juice & zest)	0.50
Paprika Hot x 2 tblsp	0.10
4 x 2 tblsp Portions	€2.59

It Couldn’t be easier…

æ      Heat a small (dry) heavy based frying pan over a medium heat & add the coriander & cumin seeds, toss gently for approx 5 minutes until they begin to “pop” releasing their pungent aromas – be careful not to burn them. Tip the toasted seeds into a mortar, allow to cool then crush with a pestle to a fine powder

æ      Trim the lemongrass as you would leeks removing the outer layer, tail & top leaves, you should have about 6” of stalk remaining, cut into fine slices

æ      Slit the chillies lengthwise & remove the seeds

æ      Peel the fresh ginger & grate finely making sure not to loose any of the “juice”

æ      Peel & roughly chop the shallots & garlic

æ      Simply place the crushed spices, lemongrass, chillies, shallots & garlic in the goblet of a liquidiser together with the zest & juice of 2 limes & the paprika then “whizz” to a course paste

Divide & Conquer…

Most recipes call for 2 tablespoons of paste, any excess can be divided into portions & frozen for future use. Try using it to spice up fishcakes, pasta dishes or any number of variations of “butternut squash & chicken Thai red curry” . … JJ