We have now described almost all of the most important Thai curry pastes, but the yellow and green ones are still missing.
Explaining everything again from the beginning is redundant and, above all, does not help understanding the art of cooking, so we recommend reading the following very brief descriptions in this order:
You can immediately recognise the similarities and differences. Yellow curry paste is the mildest version. It gets its colour from fresh turmeric. If this cannot be obtained at all, curry powder is a common alternative.
Dried red chillies are opened and the seeds shaken out, then soaked in cold water for at least 15 minutes.
We dry toast coriander and cumin seeds in a pan until they start to become fragrant.
We pound the stalks of lemongrass a few times with the back of a knife to release their flavour. Then the woody end and the green stalk are cut off. The outermost layer is removed until the mainly white core remains, which is then roughly chopped. Peeled galangal and turmeric, garlic and shallots are also chopped.
Prawn paste and a little salt round off the whole thing.
The chillies are drained and everything is blended in a mortar or food processor to form a slightly chunky paste. If you are using a mortar and pestle, you should first finely crush the coriander and cumin seeds and then gradually work in the other ingredients.
Curry pastes can be stored in the freezer for months.
Enjoy.
And may the taste be with you.
Ingredients (for 150 g curry paste or a dish for 6 – 8 people):
4 – 6 large dried red chillies, depending on taste
2 tsp cumin seeds
4 tsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp shallots
3 tbsp garlic
3 tbsp lemongrass
2 tbsp galangal
2 tbsp fresh turmeric (alternatively 2 tsp curry powder)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp prawn paste
