Despite my previous post, all excited about Trader Joes instant curries, I’ve finally gone spice shopping to make some curry paste myself.

I’ve been having some major thai cravings lately (we used to eat it really often in NZ) & I don’t want to spend the money on a jar of curry paste. Why are they always so overpriced? You can make tenfold the quantity for the same money as buying a jar of ready-made.

Factory-made curry pastes are also really hit & miss. More often “miss” in my opinion. The ingredients are always in the wrong proportion for my liking.

Last night I tried to make a thai red curry, but had the wrong chilies on hand, so it didn’t end up so red really… still, it tasted right.

So, here’s a list of the above stuff you will need-

(Amounts depend on personal preference a lot. Taste as you go)

• 2 stalks of lemongrass, thinly sliced
• 1-2 Inches of ginger/ or galangal if you can get it (I like a lot of ginger so I did 2 inches).
• The peel of a lime (& a squeeze of the juice if you like a tangy curry like me).
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce/ fish sauce if you’re carnivore*
• 1 shallot
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Chili to taste (try to get those big ones that have minimal heat, that way you get the colour without a killer hot curry. I only had small super-hot ones that are more heat than colour, hence the lack of red in mine last night)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin

It makes about 1/2 cup of paste, approx 4 serves.. depending on your style. You’ll see below.

Get all the stuff listed above & crush it into a paste either with a mortar & pestle or a food processor (if you’re the electric-gadget type). Make sure to mush it up good.

Now, once again my kitchen has no gadgets or appliances over here so I was stuck with my knife. I tried using the back of a spoon in a bowl like a mortar & pestle but gave up & finished it off on the cutting board with a knife. It was hard work but I got the results.

The only rule with Thai cooking is balancing the three essential flavours- Salty*, Sour & Sweet. Some people may argue that Spicy is the 4th S-flavour to balance, but not all Thai food is spicy. Anyway, taste as you go & get your mix right.

*Traditionally fish sauce is the main “salt” used in thai food. Vegetarians & vegans reading this will want to trade the fishy stuff for something else. I had soy sauce on hand. There may be a fish-substitute out there you could use, but soy sauce is just fine in my opinion.

& there you have it, curry paste!

My favourite way to use it-

Empty a can of coconut cream/milk into a pan & get it bubbling. Add as much curry paste as you’d like (I’d use the full batch of paste, the way I like it). Stir it up well & get that colour into the milk & then add your *stuff

*”Stuff” for me = tofu, brocolli, zucchini, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, kale, capsicum.

Put whatever you want in there. Pumpkin is good, snow peas, “asian greens”, baby corn is awesome..

Just one can of milk makes a pretty thick, creamy curry. You may want to add some water.. I did. You could put a whole can of water in if you want a low-fat curry, to me that’s too watery though. You may want to use 2 cans of coconut milk…  You can even add some tomatoes or tomato paste. It’s up to you.

Once your veges are cooked the curry is ready.

Pile it on rice & garnish with coriander/ roasted nuts/ bean sprouts.

Yumbo!