Curry Paste

Traditionally, every household makes their own curry pastes. But, nowaday, it is easier to buy them. From the picture of pales of curry pastes, you can see how much the Thais enjoy curry pastes.

Whenever I visit Thailand I would buy a kilo or two and bring it home with me. Then I'd put into smaller bags and freeze them. I have fresh supply of curry pastes for years to come. I'm not kidding you -- the frozen curry paste keep fresh for a long time.

If you are not visiting Thailand in the near future and in need of curry pastes, I recommend the one that comes in a plastic container. Inside the plastic container, you'll see vacuum packed curry. I think that it is fresher and tastes better than the canned one.

Red Curry Paste is made of dried chili peppers, salt, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime zest, garlic, shallots, cilantro roots, peppercorns, cumin and coriander. The spices are pound into a smooth reddish paste. The paste is fragrant with fresh and dried spices. Traditionally, the paste was made fresh for each dish. Today, most people buy the already made curry pastes and store in the fridge.

Red Curry Paste is available in plastic tubs and cans at Asian markets and some mainstream supermarkets. You can store red curry paste in a plastic bag in the freezer for a year.

The Red Curry Paste is not to be confused with basic red curry paste or 'gang kua'. The difference is the additional 3 ingredients, peppercorns, cumin and coriander, red curry paste in red curry paste.

See recipe for homemade Red Curry Paste and homemade Basic Red Curry Paste. Check out in details how Red Curry Paste is different than Basic Red Curry Paste.

Recipes made with red curry paste

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  Beef and Bamboo Shoot Curry

  Gang Naw Mai Neuw Sub

  Ground beef and bamboo shoot red curry.

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  Chicken Curry

  Gang Gai

  Chicken and Thai eggplant in red curry

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  Curried Noodles

  Goew Tiew Gang

  Rice noodles in beef curry sauce

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  Green Beans and Shrimp

  Pad Prig King

  Dried curry green beans with shrimp

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  Satay

  Marinated and grilled pork served on skewers with peanut sauce. A simpler recipe.

• 

  Peanut Sauce for Satay

  Nam Jim Satay

  Thick curried peanut sauce for dipping satay in.

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  Satay - Modern Thai Version

  Satay

  Marinaded and grilled pork served on skewers with peanut sauce

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  Stinky Beans and Shrimp

  Pud Ped Sataw

  Stinky beans stir fried in red curry paste with shrimp

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  Tropical Yum

  Yum Tawai

  A variety of tropical vegetables with sesame curry sauce.

• 

  Pumpkin Curry

  Gang Ped Fug Tong

  Creamy and mild pumpkin curry.

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  Fried Chicken Wings

  Peek Gai Tod Gluea

  Fried chicken wings with crispy skin, seasoned lightly with Thai herbs

• 

  Roast Duck Curry

  Gang Ped Pbed Yaang

  Roast duck curry in red curry sauce with cherry tomatoes.

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  Sour Bamboo Curry

  Gang Gai Naw Mai Dong

  Sour pickled bamboo shoot cooked in red curry paste and coconut milk

Green curry paste has the exact ingredients as the red curry paste with the exception of the dried chili pepper. Fresh green pepper is substituted. Green curry paste comes in a can or plastic tub and is available at Asian markets and some local markets

Home made green curry paste is not that difficult to make if you have access to all ingredients. It can be made in the traditional mortar and pestle or food processor. Green curry paste can be frozen up to one year.

Recipes made with green curry paste

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  Green Curry with Chicken

  Gang Kiew Wan Gai

  Green curry made with chicken and pea eggplant.

This curry paste is a mix of shallots, garlic, lemon grass, galangal, gra chai, pepper, salt and shrimp paste.

It normally comes in a little plastic jar. If you keep it in the freezer, it stays good for a year.

Recipes made with namya curry paste

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  Noodles with Fish Curry Sauce

  Kanom Jeen Nam Ya

  Curry fish sauce over rice noodles with fresh and boiled vegetables

Masaman is an Indian influenced curry. Masaman curry paste has several Indian spices such as cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. When sold in Thailand, you can see whole white cardamom pods in the paste.

Recipes made with masaman curry paste

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  Masaman Curry

  Masaman

  Stewed beef and potato in spicy curry.

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  Beef Massaman Curry

  Gang Masamun Nuea

  Rich and well seasoned beef curry with potatoes and onions

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