Vegan Simple Red Curry Paste (Easy, 35 Minutes, Made from Scratch)
Difficulty: 1/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 3/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: 30-35 minutes
Servings: 1 cup
The Challenge: Vegan Red Curry Paste
It is my first foray into CURRY. This will be an auxiliary post to another one releasing in the next couple days that uses this curry in my first Vegan CURRY DISHHHH!!! omg.
First off - curry is frikin amazing. Second - I really hate processed, oversalted foods. The curry pastes are not the worst offenders, but I have found them to be quite a bit worse than something made from the heart at a restaurant or homemade. Additionally, most curry pastes are not vegan - containing fish paste or oils.
In doing research, I found that its not incredibly difficult to make curry paste though. The ingredient list is probably the most challenging part. I am lucky being in Atlanta and having a number of close by grocery stores that sell these products. If you are in a more urban area, definitely look for any store with a vibrant ethnic produce/food section. If you are in a more rural area, there are many ways to order online or make some substitutions, which I will note.
This red curry turned out amazing, and I highly recommend it as a base for many many dishes to come!
Further, you can use this in many other ingredients. Curry veggie burgers are delicious! Curry aioli and mayo! Curry can be added to a dressing or sauce for many stirfry or salad recipes. The possibilities are endless ... but I highly recommend choosing homemade curry paste over the store!
Let's go into it!
Ingredients:
Simple Red Curry Paste
- 16 dried red chilis - broken in half, seeds shaken out (Thai chili or typical red chiles, can often find bagged and dried)
- 2 tbl fresh lemongrass, diced or 1 tbl lemongrass powder
- 1 tbl galangal, grated (similar to ginger but different enough that galangal is preferred)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbl miso paste (vegan - this substitutes the fish oil)
- Spices: 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp cumin, 1 tbl cilantro, fresh, pinch of salt + pepper
- 2 shallots, diced
- 1 tsp lime zest
- 3 tbl of soaking water from chilis
Equipment You'll Need:
Cutting Board . Medium Cutting Knife . Mixing Spoon . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Food Processor . Small Bowl
Before You Cook:
- Bring 2.5 cups of water to a boil
1. To start, take the halved and deseeded dried chilis and place into a medium-sized bowl. Add in water once it has been brought to a boil and soak chilis for 25-30 minutes.
2. While the peppers soak, prepare the rest of the ingredients per instructions in ingredient list. After soaking, remove peppers with a slotted spoon and keep soaking water to the side. Add peppers to a food processor. Pulse 5-10 times until broken down.
3. After pulsing the chilis, add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor. Pulse 10-15 times until well broken down and a paste starts to form.
4. Your paste should look something similar to the above photo.
5. Finally, scoop the curry paste into a bowl to use in a curry dish recipe. There are tons of ways to use this paste - traditional curry dishes, add to a mayo for a curry mayo, add to oil/vinegar for dressing, and so many more.
