My husband and I both love the Thai green and red curries, so it's been in my agenda for a while to learn how to make them from scratch. I could buy a jar of paste, but there are often added ingredients that I'd rather not be eating, like sugar and preservatives. Making from scratch means you can also make it vegetarian/vegan if you want.
I’m not the most organised person going, so quite often I'll be missing ingredients needed for a recipe I want to make. I also try to use as much as possible from my garden or that others have gifted me from their garden. So if I haven't got an ingredient, I'll replace or omit it and see how it goes. Most of the time the results are good, although I'm sure it wouldn't work quite so well with baking.
Some of my ingredients which were looking more photogenic.
Here's a recipe I found for Thai Red Curry. The original ingredients are in italics and I'll add next to it what I replaced it with, if I did, or if I omitted it.
- 1 shallot (or 1/4 cup chopped purple onion) [I used quarter of a standard onion]
- 1 stalk fresh lemongrass (minced, or 3 tbsp. frozen prepared lemongrass; available at Asian stores) [My lemongrass was small, so I used a couple of stalks]
- 1 to 2 red chilies (or 1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, or 2 to 3 tsp. Thai chili sauce) [I used 5, deseeded]
- 4 cloves garlic [We like more garlic than that!]
- 1 thumb-size piece galangal (or ginger, sliced) [I used a teaspoon of dried ginger]
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (or good-tasting tomato puree) [I use the puree]
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin [I used the same]
- 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander [it goes into the blender, so I used a teaspoon of whole seeds]
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper (available in most spice aisles) [fresh ground black pepper is better in my opinion]
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or for vegetarians 2 tbsp. soy sauce, plus salt to taste) [I used the fish sauce, because someone bought some at some point]
- 1 teaspoon shrimp paste (or for vegetarians 1 tbsp. Thai golden mountain sauce, both available at Asian stores) [I omitted this part, but added some extra salt]
- 1 teaspoon sugar [no sugar needed]
- 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons chili powder (from the spice aisle, depending on how spicy you want it) [omitted, because I added extra fresh chilis]
- 1 to 3 tablespoons thick coconut milk (depending on how thick you want the paste; reserve remaining for cooking the curry) [not actually necessary if you aren't using it for cooking straight away]
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice [I used one lemon]
- Optional: 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (or add 1 cinnamon stick to your curry pot) [I've yet to try it with this in]
Throw all the ingredients into a blender and blend to a paste.
I usually use chicken for this curry, but any protein of your choice can be used, or even just vegetables if you prefer. Fry up the protein in some oil, then add the paste. Heat through then add a can of coconut milk. Once it's thoroughly cooked through, add vegetables of your choice. I like the vegetables to be heated through, but still fairly crisp and not too soft.
Serve with rice.
The curry worked out well, just as good we usually get at a restaurant. It's a light, refreshing curry, good even on a hot summer day. I love a recipe which adjusts well to the resources available.
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Smiling .. cos I'm wondering why your Red Curry isn't RED??? :) LOVE that you're experimenting in thee kitchen to recreate a taste you enjoy. The Thai way of making a red curry is to burn the very red paste uber hot in a wok for about 30 seconds till your eyes water, add half coconut milk & half water and burble for 2 mins till the flavours meld. Then in with any meat and hard veggies. Burble for 10 mins. Add softer veggies. Burble for 5. Turn off heat and add fresh lime, corriander leaves and fish sauce - I also don't use and add salt at the end. This red curry paste is a little more authentic: https://www.thaitable.com/thai/recipe/vegetarian-red-curry-paste The paste should be as red as the images - comes from using the red onions and enough of the right red chillies. Mortar and pestle every time - saves time, MUCH easier to clean and brings out the flavours differently. PROMISE I will make for you one day - it's one of our go tos. If you make a batch of paste it keeps for MONTHS in a glass jar in thee fridge - use if for stir fries too - super yum.
Highly recommend getting some brown, red or black Thai rice - after all that work it deserves the flavour boost.
NICE POST - making me hungry. Locally this is a common breakfast food LOL.
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Oooh, valuable feedback! Thank you. We so often alter foreign cuisine in the West to cater for our own tastes, so I always wonder how close to the original it actually is. Thank you for that link too. When I search recipes, they're all slightly different, so it's good to find a base one to go to.
I certainly want to make a larger batch up to grab as needed. Just been experimenting so far. I thought it would need to be frozen, so good to know it doesn't have to be. Thai rice is sooo expensive here. That would be a real treat!
PS: the only red in it was the tomato puree and the chilis were only half red. ;)
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Try boiling the crap out of the coconut cream first (pure without stabilizers or additives), until its 60% reduced into a thick cream..
It can take 15 mins... Then u add coconut milk and the paste and veggies and cook as normal. don't ask me why but u end up with the most glorious velvet textured curry soup ive ever had, almost orgasmic. Courtesy of the university of u tube, tried n tested!
Was this the last of Zeus?
Unknown free range chicken breast.
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