Authentic Thai Panang Curry Paste Recipes

AUTHENTIC THAI PANANG CURRY PASTE

Steps:

• Slice the top off large and small chillies and remove the seeds. If using fresh chilli: chop finely. If using dried chilli: Slice into small rings and soak in water for 40 mins to soften. Drain and squeeze out all the liquid (use gloves to avoid getting spicy chilli on yourself). Chop finely and set aside.
• In a medium frying pan, gently toast all spices over a low to medium heat for a 1-2 minutes, starting with the biggest and gradually adding in the others, through to the smallest. Order should be cinnamon, star anise, cardamom pods, cloves, coriander seeds, whole black pepper seeds and finally cumin seeds.
• Place all the toasted spices in a stone mortar and pestle, grind into a fine powder. Remove from mortar and pestle and set aside. Note: You can speed things up and use a spice grinder here, but a mortar will give you the best result.
• Add the remaining ingredients in the mortar and pestle - in sequence so that the most fibrous ingredients are added first - lemongrass, galangal (or ginger), kaffir lime rind, kaffir lime leaves, soaked large dried chillies (or fresh), soaked small dried chillies (or fresh), crushed peanuts, coriander root, shallots, garlic and finally shrimp paste. This will help you to achieve a smooth consistency. Note: You can speed things up and use a food processor here, but a mortar will give you the best result. If using a processor, you may need to add a little vegetable oil to help everything mix.
• Use a spoon to scrape the ingredients from the side of the mortar and pestle down to the centre as you go. Tip: If you have a small pestle, break up the mix into portions to make it easier when grinding the paste together.
• Finally add the spice powder and continue to pound until you obtain a smooth paste.

PANANG CURRY

Steps:

• The first step is to make the curry paste. Start by soaking the chilies in water until they're soft. This could take up to a half hour. When they're soft, cut them open to remove the guts & seeds. Toast the cumin seeds, cilantro seeds and peanuts separately in a pan over medium heat. Roast each until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Grind up the seeds together in a stone mortar and pestle until powdered. Remove and set aside. Add your chilies with the salt to the stone mortar and pestle and pound until a paste. This will take awhile - the skins are difficult to mash. Be patient. When your chilies are a uniform paste, add the lemongrass. Pound until a paste. Then add the galangal and coriander roots, and again, smash until paste. Add the peanuts, shallots, garlic and your powdered cumin & cilantro seeds. Mash until paste. Add the shrimp paste and pound to mix well. Set aside. Cut your meat cross-grain into thin slices (about 1.5″ (4cm) long x 1/2″ (1.25cm) tall x 1/8″ (.25cm) thick). Now, on to frying your curry! Heat up your pan first on medium-high heat, then add 1/2 cup of the coconut cream. It should sizzle right away and boil. Add all the paste and mix well. Fry the paste. You want to keep the paste dry, but not too dry that it sticks and burns. Keep adding a little bit of coconut milk when it gets too dry, maybe about 1/4 cup every minute or two. Keep stirring so it doesn't burn. Keep adding coconut cream about 1/4 cup at a time, every minute or two. You should start to see a lot of oil coming to the top of the curry. This is normal and a sign that you're doing it right! Your paste should start to smell really good after 4-5 minutes. You'll start to see a lot of oil rising to the top, especially where it's bubbling. When it does, add your meat. Cook the meat until cooked, add the lime leaves, fish sauce and palm sugar, then keep going about 3-5 minutes so the meat is soft. The consistency of the curry should be similar to the photo. If it's too dry, add a bit more of the coconut milk. Remove and serve. Feel free to garnish with shredded lime leaves and a few leaves of Thai basil. Some fancy restaurants serve it like shown with a bit of thickened coconut cream (thickened with a bit of tapioca flour) which you're welcome to do too!