There are many different types of curry pastes you can make. While the ingredients vary, the steps you need to take to make it are nearly identical for each recipe. The only difference is when you prepare the curry roux, which is a mixture of curry spices with butter and flour.
Ingredients
Dates Curry Paste
Produces 1 cup (250 ml)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 piece of ginger the size of your thumb
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) table salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut oil
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) mashed tomatoes
- 2 fresh green chilies
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) desiccated coconut
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) almond powder
- 1 small pile of fresh celery
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) cumin
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) coriander seeds
Tikka Masala Curry Pasta
Makes 1 cup (250 ml)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 piece of ginger the size of a thumb
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) garam masala
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) sea salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) mashed tomatoes
- 2 pieces of fresh red chili
- 1 small pile of fresh celery
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) desiccated coconut
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) almond powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cumin
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) coriander
Vindaloo Curry Pasta
Makes 1 cup (250 ml)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 piece of ginger the size of your thumb
- 4 dry red chilies
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) table salt
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) peanut oil
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) mashed tomatoes
- 2 pieces of fresh red chili
- 1 small pile of fresh celery
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) black pepper
- 4 whole cloves
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) coriander
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) fenugreek seeds
Madras Curry Pasta
Makes 1 cup (250 ml)
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 jalapeno peppers, seeds removed and divided in half
- 11/2 inch (3.8 cm) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
- 21/2 tablespoons (37.5 ml) Madras curry powder
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) mustard powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) coarse salt
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil
Simple Thai Curry Paste
Makes 1 cup(250 ml)
- 3 red onions, roughly chopped, or about 1 cup (250 ml)
- 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, thinly sliced, or about 1/3 cup (85 ml)
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped, or about 1/4 cup (60 ml)
- 2 inches (5 cm) fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped, or about 3 tablespoons (45 ml)
- 2-1/2 tablespoons (37.5 ml) coconut milk
- 1-1/2 tablespoons (22.5 ml) Thai fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) coriander powder
- 1 to 2 small Thai red chilies, seeds removed OR 1-1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml) dry crushed chilies
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) cumin powder
- 3/4 teaspoon (3.75 ml) cardamom powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) cinnamon powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) turmeric powder
- 1/8 teaspoon (0.6 ml) clove powder
Simple Malaysian Curry Paste
Makes 2 cups(500 ml)
- 4 small red onions, peeled and chopped
- 2 inch (5 cm) pieces of ginger, peeled and sliced
- 18 cloves of garlic
- 5 small red chilies
- 1.25 oz (40 g) turmeric, peeled and sliced
- 3 oz (80 g) fresh galangal, peeled and sliced
- 8 to 10 kaffir lime leaves
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemongrass paste
Simple Japanese Curry Roux
Makes 1 cup (250 ml)
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons (60 ml) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) curry powder
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) garam masala
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) cayenne pepper
Step
Method 1 of 3: Part One: Preparing Your Ingredients
Step 1. Peel and cook the ginger, garlic, onion, or shallot
When these ingredients are mentioned in the recipe, you should peel the outer skin off, cut the ingredients into coarse pieces, and place them on the stove.
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To peel the ingredients:
- Peel the ginger by gently scraping the skin off with a spoon.
- Peel the garlic by scraping it with the flat side of your knife. The skin should be completely separated from the clove. Pick it up with your fingers and use crushed garlic like this.
- Peel the onions and shallots but cut off both ends and peel the skin off with your fingers.
- Cook these aromatic ingredients by heating a skillet over medium heat and adding the ingredients to the skillet. Stir with a spatula or heat-resistant mixing spoon for 1 or 2 minutes, or until a strong aroma is smelled.
- In fact, you don't need to cook these aromatic ingredients before using them. Peeling is required, but the cooking process is only an option. Cooking them briefly in this case is still recommended as it will enhance the aroma and taste of the final curry paste.
Step 2. Remove the seeds from the fresh and dried chilies
If the recipe calls for whole chilies, you will need to remove the stems, bones, and seeds. Use a small but sharp knife to remove the contents of the chili.
After handling chilies, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. If you don't wash your hands, you may accidentally rub your eyes and transfer the juices into sensitive tissues and cause a severe burning sensation
Step 3. Soak the dried chilies
Fresh chilies can be used right away but if your recipe calls for dried chilies, you should consider soaking them in hot water first to add moisture.
- Tear or cut the chilies into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Fill a bowl with warm water, and let the chilies soak for 10 minutes. Drain the water before adding the chilies to your remaining spices and ingredients.
- If you don't soak the chilies, your curry paste will lack the moisture it needs to form a smooth paste.
Step 4. Consider cooking your existing whole spices
When a recipe calls for whole spices instead of ground spices, you can add flavor to the final curry paste by cooking the spices on the stove before using them to make curry paste. This is only an option, but as with aromatic ingredients, whole spices will add fragrance and flavor once you use heat to extract the essence of the spices.
- Heat the skillet over the heat over high heat on the stove. Add the spices you are going to cook and let them sit in the hot skillet for a few minutes, stirring almost constantly. When finished, they will be golden brown in color and have a special strong aroma.
- Whole spices you should consider cooking include nuts, seeds, and berries.
Step 5. Remember the difference between fresh herbs and dry spices
Some recipes will call for fresh herbs and spices, and some will call for dry versions. Curry pastes made with fresh herbs usually have a stronger aroma and more complex taste, but curry pastes made with dried spices are generally quite acceptable to the general palate. The choice is simply a matter of preference – save time by using dry spices or add overall flavor by using fresh herbs.
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If you need to convert fresh spices to dry spices, or vice versa, check the conversion ratios for specific spices before proceeding.
- For all herbs, use 1/3 of the dried herbs for every number of fresh herbs listed. For example, 3 teaspoons (15 ml) of fresh parsley would equal 1 teaspoon of dried parsley.
- For cinnamon, one 3-inch (7.6 cm) stick equals 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of cinnamon powder.
- For cloves, 3 cloves are equal to 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml) of clove powder.
- For garlic, 1 clove equals 1/8 teaspoon (0.6 ml) of garlic powder.
- Note that 1 cardamom petal containing 18 to 20 fruit seeds equals 1 teaspoon (15 ml) of cardamom powder.
- Use an equal amount of coriander powder instead of fresh cilantro.
- For cumin seeds, substitute teaspoon (2.5 ml) of cumin seed powder for 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of fresh cumin seeds.
- With turmeric, remember that 1 oz (30 g) of fresh turmeric root equals 4 tablespoons (60 ml) of turmeric powder.
- If using fresh mustard seeds, keep in mind that 30 g of fresh seeds yield 2 tablespoons (37.5 ml) of dry mustard powder.
Method 2 of 3: Part Two: Making Curry Paste
Step 1. Grind the dry ingredients
After you have prepared the individual ingredients for your curry paste, mix the spices and other dry ingredients in a food processor and mix quickly until they form a smooth, well-blended powder.
- This step isn't necessary if you're already using ground spices, but you should still mix them together slowly to distribute them evenly in the mixture.
- If you want more control over this process or don't have a food processor, you can use a mortar and pestle to grind the spices into a powder. But depending on the size of your mortar and pestle, you may need to work in groups.
Step 2. Add the wet ingredients
Place the wet ingredients, fresh roots, or fresh aromatic vegetables in the food processor along with your ground spices. Rotate for a few seconds to break up large pieces, including larger chilies, onions, onions, garlic or ginger.
If you don't have a food processor, you can still make pasta using a mortar and pestle but it may be easier to use a blender. If using a blender, you may need to add more water to the paste to help smooth it into a paste. Watch carefully during the blending process using the blender to determine if you need to add water or not
Step 3. Process quickly to form a paste
Once the spices and other ingredients are combined, process or mix on high speed for a few minutes. Keep going until it forms a thick paste.
If some of the pasta or separate ingredients are sticking to the sides of the bowl of the food processor, pause and scrape them down with a fork. Doing this will help you maintain the right spice ratio
Step 4. Store in an airtight box
You can store curry paste for up to 1 month in the refrigerator or up to 1 year in the freezer.
- If you store pasta in the refrigerator. Place it in a glass case or an airtight, non-reactive plastic box before placing it in the refrigerator.
- If freezing pasta, transfer an equal amount to a clean ice cube tray and freeze until solid. Transfer the pasta cubes to an airtight freezer bag that can be opened and closed again. Mark the plastic with its contents and the current date before freezing for long-term storage.
Method 3 of 3: Part Four: Making a Curry Roux
Step 1. Melt the butter
Place the butter in a small skillet and place it on the stove over medium-low heat. Gently heat until completely melted.
- It's important that you melt the butter slowly because too hot butter can splatter the boil. When that happens, the fat breaks down at an uneven rate and the hot butter can splatter and cause a fire.
- To help the butter melt completely, consider stirring it in the skillet while the butter is heating up.
Step 2. Add flour
Sprinkle flour into melted butter. Use a spatula to stir the flour into the butter as evenly as possible.
- Once mixed, the flour and butter will expand.
- Stir the roux continuously at this point. It won't take long for the roux to burn if you stop stirring it.
Step 3. Cook for 20 to 30 minutes
Cook the roux for a full 20 or 30 minutes, stirring constantly, until it turns light brown.
You will need to cook the roux thoroughly to remove the strong flavor of the undercooked flour. An undercooked roux can retain its flavor, and as a result, your curry roux can have a slightly bitter taste
Step 4. Add the spices
Add whatever spices this recipe requires at this point, stirring until well combined. Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds before removing the curry roux from the heat.
In the recipe provided here, you can add curry powder, garam masala and cayenne pepper
Step 5. Store in an airtight box
Curry roux can be used right away, but if you don't plan on doing so, allow it to cool before transferring it to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month and up to 4 months if stored in the freezer.
