Thai

Thai Red Curry Paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Phet)

Name: Thai Red Curry Paste (Nam Prik Gaeng Phet)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 12
Cuisine: Thai

Homemade Thai red curry paste made with dried chillies, lemongrass, galangal, shallot, garlic and toasted shrimp paste. Brighter than a jar, and enough for three curries.

Serves

Prep

mins

Cook

mins

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Ingredients

Pantry bits

Fermented shrimp paste

White Pepper

12-15 long dried red chillies (about 15g)
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp white pepper (whole peppercorns)
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp finely sliced galangal (about a 3cm piece)
3 tbsp finely sliced lemongrass, tender white part only (about 2 stalks)
1 tsp finely grated makrut lime zest, or 4 makrut lime leaves, centre vein removed, finely shredded
2 tsp chopped coriander root (or coriander stems)
4 red Asian shallots (about 60g), chopped
6 garlic cloves (about 30g), chopped
1 tsp fermented shrimp paste (kapi)

Instructions

Snip the stems off the chillies and shake out the seeds (keep some in if you like it hotter). Soak the chillies in hot water for 15-20 minutes until soft, then drain, squeeze out the water and chop finely.
Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Let them cool, then grind with the white peppercorns to a fine powder.
Wrap the shrimp paste in a small square of foil and toast it in the same dry pan for 1-2 minutes on each side until fragrant. Open a window: it is pungent.
Pound the chillies with the salt in a heavy mortar and pestle until broken down. Add the galangal, then the lemongrass, then the lime zest and coriander root, pounding each until fine before adding the next.
Add the shallots and garlic and keep pounding until you have a fairly smooth paste. Finally pound in the shrimp paste and the ground spices. This takes 15-20 minutes by hand.
Short on time? Put everything in a small food processor with 1-2 tbsp of the chilli soaking water or oil and blend for 3-5 minutes, scraping down often, until as smooth as you can get it.
Use straight away or store (see below). For a curry for 4, fry 2-3 tbsp paste in 1/2 cup thick coconut cream until fragrant and the oil starts to separate, then add your meat and the rest of a 400ml can of coconut milk.

About this dish

Nam prik gaeng phet (น้ำพริกแกงเผ็ด) is the paste behind Thai red curry, and it is the base for many more dishes than the curry alone. It is made from dried red chillies pounded with aromatics and seasoned with toasted shrimp paste. Homemade paste tastes brighter and more fragrant than most jars, and you can control the heat.

Use it for red curry with prawns, red duck curry, pad prik king or choo chee curry. Our Thai curry guide explains how red, green, yellow, panang and massaman pastes differ.

Tips for the best result

Pound the hardest, most fibrous ingredients first (chillies, galangal and lemongrass), then the softer ones. The salt works as a grit to help break things down.
Slice the lemongrass and galangal very thinly across the grain before pounding. It saves a lot of time.
Fry the paste in coconut cream or oil before adding liquid. Raw paste in a curry tastes harsh.
Season the finished curry with fish sauce and palm sugar, not the paste.

Substitutions

Dried chillies: Thai long dried chillies are sold at Asian grocers. Kashmiri chillies give a good colour with milder heat. Add 2-3 dried bird's eye chillies for more fire.
Galangal: fresh is best; frozen galangal from Asian grocers works well. Ginger tastes quite different, so use it only as a last resort.
Shrimp paste: for a vegetarian paste, leave it out and add a pinch more salt. It will be less savoury.

Storage

Keep the paste in a clean jar in the fridge, pressed down and topped with a thin layer of oil, for up to 2 weeks. For longer, freeze it in an ice-cube tray (one cube is about 2 tbsp) and store the cubes in a bag for up to 3 months.

Red curry paste FAQs

What is the difference between red and green curry paste?

Red curry paste is built on dried red chillies, which give it a deeper, slightly smoky flavour. Green curry paste uses fresh green chillies and more fresh herbs, so it is greener and brighter.

How much curry paste should I use?

About 2-3 tbsp of homemade paste for a 400ml can of coconut milk and 500g of meat or seafood, which serves 4. Start with less if you are unsure of the heat.