Thai Yellow Curry Paste

Ingredients

• 4 shallots
• 4 large FULL HEADS (not cloves) of garlic
• 6 inch piece of fresh ginger
• 12-15 (plus-or-minus) whole Thai chili peppers (fresh is better, but sometimes you can only find them dried)
• 1 1/2 tbsp salt
• 2-3 tbsp tumeric
• 2-3 tbsp curry powder
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 3 tbsp lemongrass paste
• 1/4 cup packed fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel the shallots, drizzle with oil, and wrap in foil
3. Peel the ginger, cut into thin slices.  Arrange in a single layer, drizzle with oil, wrap in foil.
4. Peel the garlic, cut the top off the heads, drizzle with oil, wrap each head in foil.
5. Place all the foil packets on a baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the ginger, increase the temperature to 400, and roast shallots and garlic for another 30 minutes.
6. If using dried chilis, pour boiling water over them to rehydrate them.  Soak for 15 minutes then drain.
7. Put everything in a food processor or strong blender and puree until it reaches your desired consistency.

Comments

Source: pinchofyum.com

Seriously great yellow curry paste.  We usually make it without shallots or cilantro because Hank doesn’t like them and it still tastes really good (although I know it would be better with cilantro!).  It was spicier when I made it with fresh peppers, but the recipe originally calls for dried peppers.  I’ve had it with both and both are good, I just like the spicier version better so I use fresh peppers when I can.

I freeze the paste after the first batch and it keeps for a long time.  (Probably… we love it so much it usually doesn’t last long, even in the freezer, because we eat it!)