Red Curry Paste

From The Elegant Taste of Thailand -- Cha Am Cuisine, by Sisamon Kongpan and Pinyo Srisasat, SLG Books, Berkeley, 1989. ISBN 0-943389-05-4.

Nam Phrik Kaeng Daeng.

Ingredients

13 small dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 15 minutes and deseeded.
3T chopped shallot
4T chopded garlic
1T chopped galangal (the spice grinder was able to chop the dried galangal. I was not)
2T chopped lemon grass
2t chopped kaffir lime rind
1T chopped coriander root
20 peppercorns
1t shrimp paste
1T coriander seed
1t cumin seed

Directions

In a wok or skillet over low heat, put the coriander and cumin seeds and dry roast for about 5 minutes, then grind into a powder.

Into a blender or spice grinder, put the rest of the ingredients except the shrimp paste and blend to mix well. Then add the coriander/cumin seed mixture and the shrimp paste and blend again to obtain about 2/3 cup of a fine-textured paste.

This can be stored in a glass jar in the refrigerator for about 3-4 months.

Comments

We skipped the coriander root when we didn't have any. (Finding coriander root in stores might be impossible -- we grow our own).
We used a bit of regular lime rind and some dried kaffir lime leaves instead of the kaffir lime rind, which we couldn't get.

Jim Plank

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