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Thai curry paste and powders, asian food cooking guide |
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Thai curries, almost without exception, are
based on "wet" spice mixtures, pastes that are produced
by grinding spices and aromatics in a heavy mortar with a rough
surface. In Thailand, it is possible to buy freshly made pastes
from the market, but outside the country they are only available
in jars. |
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This paste gets colour from
the large munber of fresh red chillies that are the prime ingredient.
It is a complex paste, and classically includes cumin seeds, shallots,
garlic, galagnal and lemon grass, as well as gresh coriander roots,
peppercorns, cinnamon, ground turmeric and shrimp paste. Red curry
paste is most often used in beef curries and robust chicken dishes. |
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| Ingredients: |
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1 tbsp. coriander seeds |
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2 tsp. cumin seeds |
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1 tsp. black pepperconrns |
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2 tsp. dried shrimp paste |
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1 tsp. ground nutmeg |
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12 dried or fresh red chillies, roughly chopped
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1 cup shallots, chopped |
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2 tbsp. oil |
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4 stems lemon grass (white
part only), finely chopped |
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12 small cloves garlic, chopped |
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2 tbsp. fresh coriander roots,
chopped |
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2 tbsp. fresh coriander stems, chopped |
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6 kaffia lim leaves, chopped |
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2 tsp. grated lime rind |
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2 tsp. salt |
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2 tsp. turmeric |
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1 tsp. paprika |
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| Preparation: |
1. |
Place the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry
frying pan and heat for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan constantly. |
2. |
Place the roasted spices and peppercorns in
a mortar and pestle or clean coffee grinder and work them
until they are finely ground. Wrap the shrimp paste in a small
amount of foil and cook under a hot grill for 3 minutes, turning
the package twice. |
3. |
Process the ground spices, roasted shrimp paste,
nutmeg and chillies in a food processor for 5 seconds. Add
the remaining ingredients and process for 20 seconds at a
time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula each
time, until the mixture froms a smooth paste. |
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This curry paste is made from herbs and fresh
green chillies. It is most often used to make chicken curries. |
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| Ingredients: |
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1 tbsp. coriander seeds |
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2 tsp. cumin seeds |
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1 tsp. black pepperconrns |
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2 tsp. dried shrimp paste |
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8 large fresh green chillies,
roughly chopped |
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1 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves, stems
and roots |
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1 cup shallots, chopped |
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3 stems lemon grass (white part only), finely
chopped |
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6 kaffia lim leaves, chopped |
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2 tsp. grated lime rind |
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2 tsp. salt |
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2 tsp. oil |
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| Preparation: |
1. |
Place the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry
frying pan and heat for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan constantly. |
2. |
Place the roasted spices and peppercorns in
a mortar and pestle or clean coffee grinder and work them
until they are finely ground. Wrap the shrimp paste in a small
amount of foil and cook under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes,
turning the package twice. |
3. |
Process the ground spices, roasted shrimp paste
in a food processor for 5 seconds. Add the remaining ingredients
and process for 20 seconds at a time, scraping down the sides
of the bowl with a spatula each time, until the mixture froms
a smooth paste. |
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Made from pounded red chillies
and flavoured with shrimp paste, this tangy paste is often used
in fish curries, including sour shrimp curry soup.
This is very similar to Mussaman curry paste. A quick version can
be made by adding a generous amount of ground turmeric to red curry
paste. Yellow curry paste is used for chicken and beef curries.
This dey
spice mixture is not much used in Thai cooking except in recipes
of Indian or Burmese origin. When curry powder is used, it tends
to be in a stir-fry, marinades or a peanut sauce.
Milder in flavour than any of the pastes defined by their colour,
this curry paste owes its origins to India. It is usually based
on dried chillies and contains coiander and cumin.
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| Ingredients: |
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1 tbsp. coriander seeds |
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2 tbsp. cumin seeds |
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2 tsp. black pepperconrns |
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1 tsp. dried shrimp paste |
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1 tsp. ground nutmeg |
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1/2 tsp. ground cloves |
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1/2 cup shallots, chopped |
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seed from 4 cardamon (Kra wan) pods |
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2 stems lemon grass (white
part only), finely chopped |
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6 small cloves garlic, chopped |
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1 tbsp. oil |
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15 dried red chillies |
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| Preparation: |
1. |
Place the coriander, cumin and cardamon seeds
in a dry frying pan and heat for 2-3 minutes, shaking the
pan constantly. |
2. |
Place the spices and peppercorns in a mortar
and pestle or a clean coffee grinder and work or grind until
they are finely ground |
3. |
Process the ground spices and remaining ingedients
in a food processor. Process for 20 seconds and scrape down
the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Process for 5 seconds
at a time until the mixture forms a smooth paste. |
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This sweet curry paste is made with ground
roasted peanuts and is relatively mild. This paste can be used equally
well with chicken or beef and is ideal for dishes that are cooked
in coconut milk |
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| Ingredients: |
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8 large dried red chillies |
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1/2 cup hot water |
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2 tsp. shrimp paste |
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1/2 cup shallots, chopped |
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5 cm galangal, pounded or
chopped |
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12 small cloves garlic, chopped |
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4 coriander roots, chopped |
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3 stems lemon grass (white part only), finely
chopped |
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1 tbsp. grated lime rind |
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1 tsp. black peppercorns |
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2 tbsp. oil |
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1 tbsp. fish sauce |
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1 tsp. salt |
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1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter |
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| Preparation: |
1. |
Trim the stems from the chillies and soak them
in hot water for 30 minutes |
2. |
Wrap the shrimp paste in a small amount of
foil and cook under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes, turning the
package twice. Place the softened chillies and soaking water,
shrimp paste, shallots, galangal, garlic, coriander root,
lemon grass, lime rind, peppercorns and oil in a food processor.
Process for 20 seconds at a time, scraping down the sides
of the bowl with a spatula each time, until the mixture forms
a smooth paste. |
3. |
Add the fish sauce, salt and peanut butter;
process for 10 seconds or until combined. |
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red
curry paste (krueng kang ped):
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