Want to learn how to make red curry paste from scratch, using the traditional hand-pounding method? This is the video guide you need!
There is also an updated video of how to make red curry paste that uses a coffee grinder to grind the chilies, which makes it speedier, check it out here (start video at 1:39).
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!
Print
Red Curry Paste
- Yield: Enough for a 4-6 serving curry
Ingredients
- 7-15 large, mild dried chilies (I used Thai spur chilies, but you can sub about 3 guajillo peppers)
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- ¼ tsp white peppercorns
- 3 Tbsp chopped lemongrass
- 1 Tbsp chopped galangal
- 1 tsp chopped cilantro root
- 1 tsp chopped kaffir lime zest
- heaping ¼ cup shallots
- 3 Tbsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (gapi)
Instructions
- Remove seeds from chilies, cut into chunks and soak in water until softened. Drain and dry off excess water with paper towel. Add to mortar and pestle along with salt and white peppercorns and pound into a fine paste.
- Add lemongrass, galangal, cilantro roots, and kaffir lime zest; pound into a fine paste.
- Add shallots and garlic, pound into a fine paste.
- Add shrimp paste and pound to mix.
NOTE: If you have a coffee or spice grinder: Remove seeds from chilies and grind into a powder using the coffee grinder. Pound the rest of the herbs in the mortar and pestle as per instructions above, and add the ground dried chilies along with the shallots and garlic.
JOANNE
Maesri curry paste is the best and I believe she recommended it also. They have several flavours of curry paste also! Highly recommend!
★★★★★
Ian Robbins
Love your site, channels, and all of your content. Making Thai red curry paste is a beautiful thing and your recipe sounds perfect, but is there a particular brand that you recommend that can be purchased online?
Tim
I made this paste, and it was great fun and delicious! I do have a small request, which is it would be very helpful to have weights for the ingredients, as well. The reason is that lemongrass and galangal can be quite powerful, and with different coarseness of chopping a tablespoon can vary wildly. With weights, it would be possible to make the first batch with the confidence that the product you get at the end tastes the way it is supposed to. (Mine tastes very strongly of galangal!)
Pailin Chongchitnant
Thank you Tim! And it's already on my list of things to do, so thanks for the push!
Eaton Burke
Can the excess be refrigerated?