Thai Red Curry Paste

A little while ago I posted a recipe for Thai Green Curry Paste. Here's the sequel: Thai Red Curry Paste. The main difference is in the pepper base. This recipe uses hot red Thai chiles which accounts for the red(der) colour!

This is a spicy recipe! Now, everyone rates spicy differently, but I truly think this would sit at the "Medium" scale in a Thai restaurant. Want less spice- use less chiles...more- use more chillies!

Red Curry is fantastic served with yam, cauliflower, yellow bell peppers, and your choice of protein!

As always, this recipe is gluten-free and dairy-free!
This recipe will make enough for 8-10 large curries.

Homemade Thai Red Curry Paste

17 to 20 (2- to 3-inch-long) dried hot red Thai chiles, halved and seeds discarded
4 teaspoons ground coriander
2 lemongrass stalks (tender inside only)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
4 teaspoons chopped ginger
6 (4-inch-long) fresh Kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro roots and stems
5 small shallots, chopped
2 green jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons shrimp paste (available at South China Market on Granville Island) (I also read that you can sub this for 1 tsp salt if you're a vegetarian...no guarantees though)

Soak dried red chiles in water about 10 minutes.  Blend all ingredients using a blender or a hand blender (hand blender is more effective).
Once it's all blended together, store in the fridge for up to a week. You can also separate the recipe into individual curry servings- store these in ziplock bags in the freezer and just pop them into the pan when you're ready to use!

To make the curry:
Saute half a yellow onion in coconut oil.
Add diced chicken thighs (or your choice of meat or seafood). Cook until no longer pink inside.
Add diced veggies of your choice....really, whatever you want.
Add a generous dollop of this curry paste along with one can of coconut milk (I use Aroy-D--no binders or thickeners).
Cook until veggies are tender. Voila!

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I love tacos. For a long time, I bought those "taco kits" by Old El Paso. They come with the taco shells, some mystery taco spice, and some extra mysterious "taco sauce" (what is that!?). I always threw out the taco sauce...why is it not refrigerated? Something freaky going on there.

In doing some research about the ingredients of taco spice, I learned:

1. One serving size (1/6 of the package), gives you 23% of your daily sodium intake. (woah)
2. Maltodexrin is the number one ingredient. (huh?!)
3. In addition to maltodexrin, there are some extra special ingredients such as: monosodium glutamate, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, silicon dioxide, ethoxyquin (developed by Monsanto, and labelled as 'moderately toxic'), and the ambiguous "natural flavour"

SCARY!

What's all that doing in my spice mix?!!?!

Now, catch your breath...I know that was horrifying. I have the solution

.

Homemade Taco Seasoning. It works the same, it looks the same, it smells the same, but it's MUCH BETTER FOR YOU! (and this version is garlic free)

This recipe will make a lot. Keep it stocked in a jar and add it to your beef, chicken, pork...whatever! It's multi-purpose!

In a large jar, mix together:
1/2 cup chili powder
6 tbsp paprika
1/8 cup onion powder
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
4 tsp red pepper flakes

Ta-da! Easy peasy.

Thai Green Curry Paste

Have you ever made homemade Thai curry?

Have you ever made homemade Thai curry with your own homemade Thai curry paste?! Now this picture below looks a little like just a bunch of green mush- but it's GLORIOUS when it's made into a beautiful Thai Green Curry.

Well, this was something that I'd wanted to do since I discovered Thai food. My boyfriend and I love our Thai food and have a favourite place we often frequent (It's called Khunnai Chang Thai Cuisine and I HIGHLY recommend it). We fell so in love with Thai food that we started making it regularly at home. Before I made my own batch of curry paste- we used to use Thai Kitchen. Now, that is good...but it is in no way close to the fresh stuff. This curry paste is amazing. It's easy to make (once you have the ingredients...), but now that I'm here to help you- it will be as simple as reciting the alphabet.

The beautiful thing about this recipe is that it is gluten-free and without preservatives or additives!

The hardest things to find are the Kaffir Lime Leaves and Limes. They are essential for this recipe- so don't substitute. These limes are heavenly. I found them at the South China Seas Trading Co. on Granville Island. I couldn't find them at Whole Foods, Safeway, or No Frills. You could probably also find them at a large Asian Grocery Store. The rest of the ingredients I found at No Frills.

If you've never worked with lemongrass before: here's a video on how to do it!

This recipe will make roughly 8-10 large curries.

Homemade Thai Green Curry Paste
2 stalks lemongrass, minced 
5 green jalapeños
3 shallots, sliced
1/4 cup ginger, sliced
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves & stems
1/3 cup dried basil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
6 tbsp. gluten-free tamari
2 tsp. shrimp paste (available at South China Market on Granville Island) (I also read that you can sub this for 1 tsp salt if you're a vegetarian...no guarantees though)
2 Kaffir lime leaves

The zest of 2 kaffir limes

I blended all ingredients together using my new handy hand blender. I've also made a batch using a regular blender, but it takes a bit more time. Since the paste is thick, you have to stop and hand mix the stuff in the blender often. A hand blender took me 3 minutes at most. 
Once it's all blended together: stuff it in a jar, and put it in the fridge! It lasts up to a week in there. Another option is to put it into Zip-lock bags in single uses, and put that in the freezer! Then, when you're making curry, just pop your single serving amount out of the freezer, and drop it into your pan!

To make the curry:
Saute half a yellow onion in coconut oil.
Add diced chicken thighs (or your choice of meat or seafood)
Add diced bell pepper, bamboo, green beans, eggplant....really, whatever you want.
Add a generous dollop of this curry paste along with one can of coconut milk (I use Aroy-D--no binders or thickeners).
Cook until veggies are tender. Voila!

This curry paste is spicier the more you add! It's honestly amazing. SO worth it. I made a batch for my Dad for his birthday!