Name: Thai Red Curry Paste (Paleo & Shellfish-Free)
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 12
Ingredients: 1 shallot, halved or 1/4 of a small red onion, halved; 1 -2 stalks(use two if stalks are thin or one if thick) fresh lemongrass or eight 1/2 inch pieces frozen lemongrass; 2 red chillies, halved; 4 cloves garlic, halved; 1 2 (two) inch piece fresh peeled ginger root; 2 tbsp tomato ketchup; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice; 1 tbsp chilli powder; 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes; 3 tbsp canned coconut milk; 3 tbsp bonito flakes; 1 ½ tsp coconut sugar; 1 tsp ground cumin; ¾ tsp ground coriander; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon; 2 Makrut/Kaffir Lime leaves (optional)

DifficultyBeginner

Since I am allergic to shrimp and most Thai red curry pastes contain shrimp, I wanted to come up with a recipe that I could just pop out of the freezer in individual serving sizes to make curry sauces, satay sauces and a myriad of other Thai inspired dishes. Tips: I keep ingredients like lemongrass, chillies and peeled ginger root on hand year-round. They all freeze very well. For lemongrass, I remove the rough end and the outer darker green layers and use about 3 inches of the light green to white portion of the lemongrass. I then chop the lemongrass into 1/2 inch chunks and freeze them. For ginger root I remove the brown outer skin and chop the ginger into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces and freeze. As for chillies I simply freeze them as is, whole. Kaffir/Makrut lime leaves can be found now at most local grocers in the herb/vegetable section or in Asian markets. They too, I freeze. What are bonito flakes you may ask? They are dried (usually skipjack tuna) fish flakes. Bonito flakes are found in Asian section of most supermarkets or ordered online. My favourite brand is Eden Foods.

Yields12 Servings

Prep Time20 minsTotal Time24 mins

1 shallot, halved or 1/4 of a small red onion, halved

1 -2 stalks(use two if stalks are thin or one if thick) fresh lemongrass or eight 1/2 inch pieces frozen lemongrass

2 red chillies, halvedI use 2 cayenne pepper chillies

4 cloves garlic, halved

1 2 (two) inch piece fresh peeled ginger root

2 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tbsp fish sauceI use Red Boat brand

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1 tbsp chilli powderI used Mexican chilli powder

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes

3 tbsp canned coconut milk

3 tbsp bonito flakes

1 ½ tsp coconut sugar

1 tsp ground cumin

¾ tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

2 Makrut/Kaffir Lime leaves (optional)

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and pulse until you achieve a fairly smooth paste. The paste will not get completely smooth but it will end up smooth-ish. If you use a blender it will get the paste very smooth, however because of the low liquid content of this paste most blenders will struggle to blend this. You will want to use your blender's "tamper" tool or a spatula to regularly scrape sides of blender or food processor down while blending. If you wish to get a really smooth paste you could start with making this in your food processor then finish in the blender.

CategoryAsian, Condiments, Noodles

Ingredients