Make your own authentic Thai Red Curry Paste at home from scratch! With just a few minutes of prep time, you will have countless options for Thai Red Curry dishes any day of the week!
Curries are a quintessential part of Thai cuisine. They are packed with so much flavor and when served over rice, fantastic comfort food.
Thai Red Curry gets is bright red color from dried red chilies and its classic Thai flavors from ingredients like fresh lemongrass and galangal. A wonderful combination of spice and flavor.
It is so quick and easy to make your own authentic Thai Red Curry Paste at home from scratch. With just a few minutes of prep time, you will have countless options for Thai Red Curry dishes for any day of the week. Simply add coconut milk, your favorite protein and veggies and a handful of simple ingredients for your very own Thai Red Curry at any time.
How to Make Homemade Thai Red Curry Paste
Rinse and soak 15 - 20 (about 2 cups) dried red chilies in warm water for about 30 minutes.
After the chilies have soaked, remove them from the water and cut them into approximately 1-inch pieces. As you cut the chilies, gently shake the seeds out of each piece. It helps to do this over the kitchen sink as the chili seeds will tend to fly everywhere.
Traditionally, a mortar and pestle are used to grind all of these ingredients into a paste but it takes a very long time and a lot of effort. Even modern Thai kitchens are using blenders and food processors for convenience.
Using a blender will yield a much smoother paste if that is your preference. Even a Magic Bullet works quite well for this task.
Place the cut dried red chili into a food processor or a blender along with the ingredients below.
- 2 fresh red chilies - cut into approx ½ inch pieces, seeds removed
- 3 stalks lemongrass (only the white portion, thinly sliced)
- 1 inch galangal, grated. (If you are not able to find galangal at your local Asian supermarket, you may substitute this with an equal amount of ginger)
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4 shallots (small), peeled
- 3 stalks fresh cilantro
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons white peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste (optional but recommended)
- Have about 1 cup of water prepared on the side (but don't add it to the food processor or blender yet)
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Pulse it a few times, then slowly add about a tablespoon of water at a time to blend the ingredients to a paste. I typically use between ½ cup to ¾ cup of water for each batch.
This Red Curry Paste recipe yields approximately 1 cup.
Storing Thai Red Curry Paste
Your homemade Thai Red Curry Paste will keep in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for about 6 months.
When freezing any curry paste, I recommend using ice cube trays. The ice cube trays with lids are super handy for this purpose. If you use more than one tray, you can easily stack them if they have lids.
Most Thai curry recipes typically call for 2 - 3 tablespoons of curry paste, so I recommend pouring 1 tablespoon of curry paste into each section of your ice cube tray - you'll be able to easily take exactly how much you need for each recipe you prepare.
1 cup is 16 tablespoons, so you will get about 16 individual frozen Red Curry Paste cubes per batch.
You could store these cubes in the ice cube trays, or put the frozen curry paste cubes into a Ziploc bag to save space in your freezer.
Other Thai Curry Paste Recipes:
Red Curry Recipes to try:
Try these Thai Red Curry recipes with your new homemade paste!
- Easy Thai Red Curry Shrimp
- Red Curry Baked Potato
- Red Curry Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup by From a Chef's Kitchen
- Grilled Thai Red Curry Chicken by Chef in the Burbs
- Spicy Thai Shrimp Soup by West via Midwest
- Thai Turkey Zucchini Meatballs by The Gingered Whisk
- Thai Red Curry Chicken with Vegetables by Lemon Blossoms
Thai Red Curry Paste
Ingredients
- 15 - 20 dried red chili approx 2 cups
- 2 fresh red chilies cut into ½ inch pieces, seeds removed
- 3 stalks lemongrass only the white portion, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic peeled
- 4 shallots small, peeled
- 1 inch galangal grated (substitute with ginger)
- 3 stalks cilantro
- 3 kaffir lime leaves julienned
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons white peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste optional but recommended
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Soak the dried red chilies in warm water for 30 minutes.
- Remove soaked chilies from the water, cut into 1-inch pieces. Remove the seeds as you cut the chilies.
- Place cut chilies into a blender or food processor, along with fresh red chilies, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, coriander seeds, cumin, white peppercorns, and Thai shrimp paste (if using).
- Pulse it a few times, then slowly add about a tablespoon of water at a time to blend the ingredients to a paste. (As soon as you get the consistency you want, stop adding water).
Kathy says
What a great recipe. I always wanted to make my own homemade red curry past but didn't know how. Thank you so much! I will make this at home from now on.
Char says
Thanks, Kathy! I hope that you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Steven VanAernem says
This looks like another amazing recipe i will be trying very soon.
Thank you for keeping them coming, I look forward to what you will post next.
Char says
Thank you, Steven!! 🙂