Vegan Thai Curry Paste
Vegan Thai curry paste is aromatic, flavorsome, and super easy to make. Loaded with fresh and strong flavors, this homemade curry paste is a perfect addition to your kitchen pantry!
If you are a Thai food lover, you will definitely love curry pastes. Although you can buy these easily from any grocery store, homemade curry paste gives you a chance to adjust the flavors according to your liking. Moreover, you don’t have to worry about the freshness of the ingredients and added preservatives.
I bet you will also enjoy, Thai Basil Soycurls, Thai Kale Salad With Creamy Peanut Sauce, and Thai Coconut Curry Tofu.
Ingredient breakdown
You might feel a little intimidated by the list of ingredients needed for this curry paste. However, the ingredients are readily available in every grocery store. Here is what you will need for this amazing paste.
- Red bell pepper: Red bell pepper sets the base for this curry paste. It adds a fruity and citrusy flavor to the paste.
- Onion: Onion also sets the base for the curry paste. It has a slightly sweet and savory flavor. Although I have used red onion for this recipe, you can use white onion as well.
- Green onions: The white part has an onion-like flavor, whereas the green part adds a grassy flavor.
- Garlic: It adds depth and strong flavor to the curry paste.
- Thai chili peppers: Thai chili peppers are super spicy which a hint of fruitiness. Use dried Thai chilies as they have a slightly smoky flavor to them.
- Kaffir lime: It is a unique citrus fruit whose flavor is considered a combination of mandarin, limes, and lemon. If you don’t have kaffir lime, you can use lime or lemon as well.
- Lemongrass stalk: Lemongrass has a beautiful aroma and a citrusy and lemony flavor.
- Ginger: The freshness and pepperiness of ginger are unmatched.
- Coriander seeds: Roasted coriander seeds have a beautiful aroma and a tart and earthy flavor.
- Cardamom pods: Roasted cardamom also are very aromatic and have a menthol-like, fruity flavor.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro has a very grassy flavor.
- Cayenne: Cayenne takes up the heat a notch.
- Salt: Salt balances out the flavors.
How to make vegan red Thai curry paste?
You can make this Thai curry paste in no more than 5 minutes. Here is what you have to do:
Step 1: Start by dry roasting cardamom and coriander seeds in a pan or skillet. Make sure you don’t add oil to it. Roast it until your get a brown color and the ingredients are aromatic. Also, stir constantly.
Step 2: Once you have roasted coriander seeds and cardamom pods, place them in a food processor bowl. You can also use a brick and mortar.
Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor as well.
Step 4: Process the ingredients until you get a smooth paste. You can add a splash of oil to it as well to get the consistency you desire.
Step 5: Once done, use as desired or place the paste in an air-tight container.
How to store vegan red Thai curry paste?
Once the paste is ready, place it in an air-tight jar or container and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Furthermore, you can also freeze the paste. Fill the ice cube tray with the red Thai curry paste and freeze. Once it is frozen, shirt the cubes to a plastic zip lock bag and freeze it will last for up to a month.
Adjustments to flavor and texture
The thing about this curry paste is that you can adjust the flavor according to your liking. Here is how to adjust quantities of the ingredients to get the taste you desire:
- Acidity: If you love your curry paste to be more acidic, add more kaffir lime or lime. Y
- Saltiness: Getting more saltiness is simple. Add more salt!
- Sweetness: Although I haven’t used any sweetening agent if you want the curry paste to have a sweet flavor, add maple syrup.
- Creaminess: To make the paste’s texture creamy, add olive oil while processing. It will blend easily, and the texture will be creamy. Although you can also add water, usually water separates, which makes the paste weird.
- Intensity: You can get more intensity in flavors by adding more garlic. Moreover, try adding turmeric. It also intensifies the flavor.
- Spice level: Adding more Thai red chilies will take the spice level up a notch. You can also add more cayenne.
How to use Vegan Red Thai Curry Paste?
Here is how you can use this delicious curry paste:
- Curries: Now, can you get a delicious curry without adding this curry paste? Thai curries are big on curry pastes, and this one will make your curry stand out.
- Soups: Try adding the paste to the soup and make it more flavorsome and spicier.
- Sauces: You can also add this paste to sauces and serve them with your snacks.
- Salad dressings: Make your salads more interesting by adding this paste to salad dressing.
Ingredients
- Red bell pepper- fresh red bell pepper for a sweet flavor also for a mild curry paste without the extra heat.
- Onion – lots of flavors, use any onion, white, yellow, or red onion.
- Green onion – nice flavor, make sure to wash before adding it to the food processor.
- Garlic Cloves – give a great flavor, you can add extra cloves.
- Thai Chili Peppers – I wanted a milder sauce so I only added 5 peppers so you can adjust according to your preference. It is also sold as African Bird Pepper.
- Kaffir Limes – I added this ingredient because I have a tree, you can substitute with lime juice and zest.
- Lemongrass stalk – use only the white part of the lemongrass at the root, you can substitute with storebought lemongrass paste.
- Ginger – fresh ginger is important here, not powdered ginger. You can keep extra fresh ginger in the freezer so you can use it in case you are out of fresh.
- Turmeric – give a nice yellow color, and boosts the flavor.
- Coriander Seeds -These are the seeds of the cilantro herb, found in the health food store, Asian supermarkets, or major supermarkets.
- Cardamom – I used whole green cardamom, also found in the health food stores, Asian supermarkets, and most major supermarkets.
- Cilantro – fresh cilantro leaves add a great flavor to this sauce.
- Salt – I used Himalayan pink salt.
How To Prepare Vegan Thai Curry Paste
- Place a skillet or pan on medium heat and add coriander seeds in it. Dry roast the seeds until they get a brown color and are aromatic. Stir constantly so that they don’t burn. Once done, add them to a food processor bowl.
- Similarly, dry roast cardamom pods until they are brown. Once done, add them to the food processor bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor as well.
- Process the ingredients until you get a smooth paste. You can add a splash of oil to it as well to get the consistency you desire.
- Once done, place the paste in an air-tight container.
Other Homemade Vegan Condiments To Prepare
- Jamaican Jerk Sauce
- Caribbean Green Seasoning
- Easy Curry Powder
- Vegan Condensed Milk
- Healthy Pizza Sauce
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Vegan Thai Curry Paste
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons coriander
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
- 1 small onion roughly chopped
- 2 green onions roughly chopped
- 5 Thai red chi
- 5 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 cardamom pods
- 3 kaffir lime leaves or 1 lime juice and zest
- 1 lemongrass stalk root trimmed, green part removed
- 1 tablespoon ginger peeled and choppin
- 1/4 cilantro roughly chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Place a skillet or pan on medium heat and add coriander seeds in it. Dry roast the seeds until they get a brown color and are aromatic. Stir constantly so that they don’t burn. Once done, add them to a food processor bowl.
- Similarly, dry roast cardamom pods until they are brown. Once done, add them to the food processor bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor as well.
- Process the ingredients until you get a smooth paste. You can add a splash of oil to it as well to get the consistency you desire.
- Once done, place the paste in an air-tight container. Store for 5 days in the refrigerator.
i love vegan thai curry paste