Description
The heart of khao soi is in the curry paste. Here's a recipe you can make at home that you can also make in a large batch and freeze! This recipe makes enough for 2 batches of the khao soi recipe.
Ingredients
- 20 g (0.75 oz) mild dried chilies such as guajillo or puya. (see note)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) coarse salt
- 10 thin slices ginger
- 8 thin slices turmeric, or ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ cup (120 ml) chopped shallots
- 1.5 (22 ml) Tbsp coriander seeds
- 3 pods black cardamom
Instructions
- Remove the seeds from the black cardamom pods and place the seeds into a medium dry skillet, discarding the pods. Add the coriander seeds and toast over high heat, moving them constantly, until the coriander seeds darken slightly. Set aside.
- In the same skillet over high heat, place the ginger, shallots and turmeric slices down and let them sear until they're slightly charred. Then flip and char the other side and remove from the pan. You can further chop the ginger pieces to make them a little easier to grind in the mortar and pestle.
- If using a coffee grinder for the dry ingredients, grind the toasted black cardamom and coriander seeds into a powder, remove and set aside. Grind the dried chilies into a powder. Then, in a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger, shallots, and turmeric into a fine paste, then add the dry spices and pound to a fine paste.
- If using a mortar and pestle for the dry ingredients, grind the black cardamom and coriander into a powder, remove them, then add the rehydrated chilies and the coarse salt and grind until the chilies are fine. Add the ginger, shallots, and turmeric and pound into a fine paste. Add the dry spices and pound to mix.
Notes
If using a mortar and pestle for dry ingredients, you'll need to cut the dried chilies into 1" chunks, and soaked in water for an hour to fully rehydrate. If using a coffee grinder you can simply cut them into chunks but leave them dry.