There are some great curry pastes out there, ready to go (ahem, insert shameless self-promotion for my Thai curry pastes here). But honestly, if you’ve got the time it’s worth making your own, from scratch, especially if you go low-tech and use a pestle and mortar. The only reason it can seem a daunting task is because there can be quite a few ingredients involved. But once they’re all assembled, making a curry paste is actually so straightforward, you’ll wonder why you don’t make your own more often. With flavours so bright, intense and super fresh, not much else compares. Here’s my guide to everything curry paste, plus the pros and cons of using using a mortar and pestle vs. a blender.
Basic types of curry paste
All curry pastes are made the same way, but some have ingredients requiring more roasting, soaking or separate grinding than others.
Sour curry pastes are the simplest, containing just dried chilli, shallot, garlic, krachai (fingerroot) and shrimp paste. The spicy chilli paste base used in char kway teow, and similar dishes, is similarly easy.
Red curry paste uses dried chilli, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, makrut lime leaf, peppercorns, shrimp paste and salt, while green curry paste is similar except it uses fresh green chilli.
Making a Thai curry paste, from scratch, in a mortar and pestle? You’ll taste the difference.
Yellow curry paste contains an amount of turmeric, hence its colour; Penang curry paste features a number of dried, ground spices and peanuts, giving a real richness and fragrant complexity. All the dried spices (cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, cloves, coriander, peppercorn and cumin, eg) need to be roasted whole, then ground.
Massaman curry paste like Penang curry paste, is fragrant with a number of similar dried ground spices, lemongrass, dried chillies, fresh galangal, coriander root, garlic and shrimp paste. Again, the whole spices need to be roasted and ground before going into the paste.
The anatomy of a curry paste
How many chillies is too many?
To get your head around curry pastes, it helps to think of their shared anatomy. They all basically consist of these elements:
Chillies. Fresh or dried, green or red, depending on the paste.
Spices. Coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, peppercorn, nutmeg and cloves are among the possibilities.
Umami. A salty/funky element is common, usually in the form of fermented shrimp paste. This is called belacan in Malaysia and Singapore, terasi in Indonesia and gapi in Thailand.
Aromatics maketh the curry paste.
Aromatics. Including shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, makrut lime, coriander root, fresh turmeric and krachai, or fingerroot
Mortar and pestle or blenders? Pros and cons
So what’s the best kitchen aid to make a paste in? Time for a face-off.
Mortar and pestle pros
Size matters. You can make smaller amounts of paste in a mortar and pestle; a machine requires more volume to process ingredients properly.
Smoothly does it. Pastes made in a mortar and pestle are smoother, and you can more easily check the texture as you go.
More flavour. Curry pastes taste better made by pounding as it better releases and melds all the aromas and flavour compounds.
Mortar and pestle cons
Elbow grease. You do need to work a bit hard! But all good things to those who wait, amirite?
Time. All that pounding and grinding doesn’t happen in a flash (although it is actually faster than you might think).
Blender pros
Go large. A blender can handle larger quantities of ingredients.
The need for speed. Blenders typically do a faster job than a mortar and pestle.
Blender cons
Sticky situation. A paste made in a bench-top blender needs liquid added (usually water) to help ingredients blend. Which means instead of your paste frying when you start your curry, it will stew and this affects flavour. (If your curry is coconut-milk based, it’s OK to use a bit of this when making your paste as it will cook down and release its oil, which helps with the frying). My workaround: using the liquid my dried chillies have been soaking in.
Warming woes. The heat from the motor can warm ingredients which may affect flavour slightly.
Those moves. The cutting action of a blender doesn’t release flavour compounds like a mortar and pestle can, and the flavours will never be quite as good.
Things could get exxy. A stick blender is a better alternative to a benchtop one, as you generally don’t need to add extra liquid (see above). But you need an extremely powerful stick blender to make a good paste and they’re expensive.
Hang on. What about a food processor?
A food processor doesn’t grind ingredients finely enough to make an exceptional paste; you end up with one that’s coarse and shreddy. It’ll still taste fine, but it will definitely be more rustic. Aromatics like lemongrass, makrut lime leaf, galangal etc need to be pounded to properly release their aromatic compounds. Chances are, you’ll need to add liquid to assist in the processing, too.
How to use a mortar and pestle to make curry pastes
Smooshing up chillies = prep therapy.
Using a pounding motion instead of a grinding one makes shorter work of a paste. Bits fly up the sides as you pound so don’t forget to regularly bring them back to the centre of the mortar.
It matters what order you add the ingredients, as some take longer to break down. Start with soaked, dried chillies and fibrous aromatics (makrut lime leaves, lemongrass, galangal, ginger, fresh turmeric etc); chop them first to make pounding easier. Next, add softer aromatics like fresh chillies, shallots and garlic, as they smash easily. Lastly, add roasted, ground spices. If you are using your mortar and pestle to grind the dried spices, do this first, remove them from the mortar, then add them back at the end.
Can you make your paste less spicy-hot?
Yes! Remove the seeds from your chillies, both dried and fresh, and add fewer chillies to suit. Both these strategies will reduce heat.
Can you freeze curry pastes?
You absolutely can! If you end up making more curry paste than you need, freezing is absolutely an option. Just bear in mind that freezing for any length of time will dull the fresh flavours slightly, so only freeze what you’ll use within a few weeks.
The best way to freeze is in pre-portioned amounts, according to your recipe(s) – using an oiled ice-cube tray works well (the oil helps the paste pop out and protects plastic trays from tainting). Once the cubes are solid, remove them and transfer them to a ziplock bag for freezing.
And there you have it: your complete guide. Now all that’s left is to check out the pestle and mortar I designed myself…
