Name: Red Curry Paste
Ingredients: 10 dry long red chillies (soaked in water for 20 minutes, roughly chopped); 5 red birds eye chillies (coarsely chopped); 1 tsp salt; 1 tbs fresh galangal (coarsely chopped); 2 stalks of lemongrass (white hearts only, cut into 1cm pieces); 3 red shallots (peeled and roughly chopped); 10-15 cloves of garlic (depending on the size); 1 tbs shrimp paste; 2 coriander roots (chopped roughly); 10 whole white peppers (freshly toasted); 1 Makrut lime rind (finely chopped (you can also use a zester to grate)); 1 tsp cumin (freshly toasted and ground); 1 tsp coriander seeds (freshly toasted and ground)

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Red Curry Paste

Author: Palisa Anderson

Ingredients

10 dry long red chillies soaked in water for 20 minutes, roughly chopped
5 red birds eye chillies coarsely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbs fresh galangal coarsely chopped
2 stalks of lemongrass white hearts only, cut into 1cm pieces
3 red shallots peeled and roughly chopped
10-15 cloves of garlic depending on the size
1 tbs shrimp paste
2 coriander roots chopped roughly
10 whole white peppers freshly toasted
1 Makrut lime rind finely chopped (you can also use a zester to grate)
1 tsp cumin freshly toasted and ground
1 tsp coriander seeds freshly toasted and ground

Instructions

In order of pliability – from hardest to softest – pound the ingredients using a mortar and pestle and long handled spoon. Start with the rehydrated long red chillies, red birds eye chillies and salt until smooth and well combined.
Then incorporate all the other ingredients, one at a time, and pound until each ingredient is fully blended. Make sure they are combined before adding the next ingredient. Do this with everything except the shrimp paste, then pound until smooth, scraping down the contents with the spoon as you go.
Lastly add the shrimp paste and pound until it all looks like one pliable paste, then refrigerate to rest. After it has chilled, batch it up into portions and freeze what you won’t use quickly – putting your paste into a large holed ice cube tray is a great hack.