Muoi Khuntilanont's Kitchen

Penaeng Curry Paste

Penaeng Curry Paste

You can buy prepared curry pastes in many shops, but for the full
flavour you should seriously consider the little effort involved in
making your own.  This was a back breaking chore when the pastes
were prepared in a heavy mortar and pestle, but these days you can
come very close to the same result using a food processor. You can
reduce the number of chillies used if you want a milder curry, but I
don't recommend going to less than 10 chills.

25-30 dried red chillies, discard the excess seeds
2 T, chopped shallots (purple onions)
2 T. chopped garlic
2 T. finely sliced lemon grass
1 T.  grated galangal (use ginger if you can't find galangal)
1 t. toasted coriander seeds
2 T. chopped coriander root
1 T. kapi (shrimp paste)
2 T. of chopped freshly roasted peanuts.

Mix together to a fine paste in a food processor.  This paste will
keep under refrigeration.  You can also freeze it; I suggest placing
it in an old ice cube tray to make into curry paste cubes for ease
of measurement later. The prepared paste should be allowed to mature
for two or three days before use to bring out the full flavour.

Note that it is better to make the paste milder than to use less
than about 2 tablespoons in the final recipe.