Tonight, with grand plans, at the end of a busy warm Spring day, to make a Thai Chicken curry, we discovered that we had only a teaspoon worth of curry paste…
Thanks to google, we discovered that we did not have the ingredients to make our own curry paste, not even close…
Easy curry paste from scratch
So here is what we did:
In a Blender:
Coriander seeds, about a teaspoon – we actually had these – dry fry them first – we smashed them in the mortar and pestle also.
Cumin powder
Chilli powder
A Red Capsicum, de-seeded and roughly chopped
Peanut oil
Garlic
Ginger – we didn’t have this but I would’ve put it in if we did
Shallot/lemon grass/ garlic chives
Salt and pepper
Chilli powder – use fresh chilli if you have it.
Shrimp paste – we did not have this either, but I have used it before and if you have it, throw it in
We have something labeled “curry powder” that we have bought from the spice people at the local markets, not sure anymore what it is but I put in about half a teaspoon of it.
We threw in amounts we thought right, I whizzed this all together, if it’s not blending, add more oil.
It worked, definitely tasted like Thai curry, it had “mouth feel” – a term I heard a bit as a child. It makes me wonder why we keep buying curry paste when it’s made from ingredients which (mostly) we already have in the pantry and fridge??
I think I’ll stock up on the Ginger and shrimp paste and whiz up some Thai curry paste whenever we need it from now. It’s a great way to control the heat factor as well as the taste. It also uses up those thing you keep in your pantry and my favourite factor; I know exactly what went into it, well, except that “curry powder” 😉
Do you make your own curry paste? Or other from scratch bases we normally buy from jars??
