This cooking blog originated with recipes for beginning cooks, and my favorite quick yellow curry always begin with A Taste of Thai’s yellow curry paste. Once you’ve mastered the simple art of making curry with store-bought paste, try making your own with the fabulous yellow curry paste recipe offered by A Pinch of Yum.
My Texas Thai version of her easy yellow curry paste uses milder chilies and includes cumin. However, I’ve found no good substitute for Garden Gourmet’s Lemongrass paste, so just order it from your favorite delivery service. It should last about three months in your refrigerator.
Texas Thai Yellow Curry Paste
- 1 Tablespoon powdered coriander
- 1 Tablespoon powdered cumin
- 1 Tablespoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons powdered Turmeric (gives the paste its vibrant yellow color)
- 2 Tablespoons McCormick yellow curry powder (light yellow, mild and nutty)
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- 4 large shallots (brown paper-skinned, pale purple onions that fit in the palm of your hand)
- 4 heads of garlic (about 12-20 cloves per head)
- 1 piece of fresh ginger root – about the size of your hand
- 5-7 Chili de Arbol (dried red chilies, milder than Thai chili peppers)
- 3 Tablespoons Garden Gourmet Lemongrass paste
- 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro
You will also need an oven, a food processor, a cookie sheet, and several sheets of foil.
Mix the coriander and cumin together and toast these two dry spices for three minutes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil at 350° F. Remove spices from oven and add salt, turmeric, and curry powder to the roasted spices.
Wash and scrub the skin of the ginger root thoroughly. The fresh ginger should have a shiny, thin skin and no wrinkles in the root. Slice through the entire root, creating “planks” of ginger. Center the ginger planks on a sheet of foil, drizzle with 1/3 of the olive oil and wrap tightly in the foil.
Slice across the top of the garlic heads, exposing the individual cloves and releasing their aroma. Cluster the heads together on a sheet of foil, drizzle with 1/3 of the olive oil and wrap tightly in the foil.
Cut both ends off of each shallot and remove the brown paper skins. Place all four shallots in the center of a sheet of foil, drizzle with 1/3 of the olive oil and wrap tightly in the foil.
Place all the foil bundles on the cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350° F.
Carefully remove the foil packet of ginger planks after 15 minutes of roasting. Increase the oven heat to 400° F and bake the shallots and garlic another 30 minutes.
Take 1/2 bunch of cilantro and break or cut off the bottom 1-2 inches of stems. Then break or cut the remaining leafy stems into thirds. No need to separate leaves from stems in this recipe!
Break the stems off the dried chilies and add to food processor with the dry spices, the fresh cilantro pieces, and the roasted ginger planks.
Go ahead and blend these ingredients in the food processor. The yummy smells are already driving you crazy, so you might as well process the first bit into a coarse or grainy texture. Open the food processor and breathe in that heady scent!
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven.
Carefully vent the foil packets and then open the rest of the way to expose the roasted shallots and garlic. Add the shallots to the food processor.
Squeeze the softened garlic cloves out of their paper shells and add the cloves the food process. Discard the paper shells.
Add the Lemongrass paste to the food processor and blend all the ingredients to a smooth paste.
Take out 1/3 cup of paste to use immediately for a simple curry and freeze the rest of the paste in individual batches of 1/3 cup (or more).
Makes 4 portions of curry paste.
