Red Thai Curry Paste ~Krung Kaeng Phed

In Thai cuisine curry paste is an essential ingredient to prepare many dishes but of course the main dishes being curries. There are several paste, red, yellow, green, Panaeng and the more Indian influenced Massaman curry paste. I've made them all except the Panaeng, which I will try and then post. The first Thai curry paste recipe I have is for red curry paste. This recipe is from my cookbook called , "The Complete Asian Cookbook" by Charmaine Solomon . Home made red Thai curry paste is very easy and fast to make, you may get addicted to making your own and not buy prepackaged again. There is nothing wrong with the couple of prepackaged ones I've bought, but I like making my own to control the spiciness and make sure all the necessary ingredients are included and none left out. Of course there's the preservatives used, yuck, which I try to avoid as often as possible.

One of the ingredients is shrimp paste, I have to leave this out because I have not been able to find here. So to still give the curry paste a seafood taste I add the fish sauce. Shrimp paste also adds a redness to the paste so that's why I add the paprika, merely for color aesthetics and does not affect the taste. If you are a vegetarian you can omit both or either of the shrimp paste and fish sauce. The recipe below can be doubled or tripled, and you can adjust the heat as you like.
Your ingredients:

4-6 dried red chillies
2 small brown onions, chopped
1 tsp. / 5 ml peppercorns (about 68 )
2 tsp. / 10 ml ground cummin ( 2 1/2 tsp. / 12 ml whole)
1 tbsp. / 15 ml ground coriander ( 1 1/2 tbsp. / 22.5 ml whole seeds)
2 tbsp./ 30 ml fresh cilantro chopped ( including the stems and roots)
1 tsp. / 5ml salt
2 tsp. / 10 ml finely chopped lemon or lime peel
1 tsp. / 5ml lemon grass powder
1 tsp / 5ml ginger powder
1 tbsp. /2-3 cloves , chopped garlic
2 tsp. / 10 ml shrimp paste (Subs. 2 tbsp. / 30 ml fish sauce)
1 tbsp. / 15 ml vegetable oil
1 tsp. / 5 ml turmeric
2 tsp. / 10 ml paprika ( only for color)

1. In a small bowl pour some hot water and add the dried chillies to soak and soften them for about 8 minutes. If you are using whole spices, first grind those in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Next chop the onion, cilantro and lemon peel. Drain the chillies and remove the stems. ( If you want the curry paste a bit milder remove and discard the seeds, otherwise leave them in.)

2. In a blender add all the ingredients including the ground spices, and oil. Blend to a thick paste, if it's too dry you can add a little water or more oil.
Viola! , red curry paste ready to go and cook any delicious Thai dish. The paste will keep fresh in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks or longer, in the freezer up to 2 months,that's if you don't use it up before 2 months:) By the way it does freeze well, I scoop 2- 3 big spoonfuls into small plastic bags and divide into portions that way you only need to defrost what you need for a meal.