ZAR - Recipe! Red Curry Paste

I will warn you that making this is NOT for the faint-hearted. You'll need a liquidiser with guts too. If you are at all funny about turning your equipment yellow with the fresh turmeric then again give this a miss. Also just to warn you that when you get turmeric on anything it is hard to get off, so careful touching the fridge or really anything unless you've washed your hands. Alternatively, wear gloves.

Having said all that, this curry paste is so good and way better then anything from the supermarket. I use it for red curry of course but also I love to marinade chicken thighs in it and then bbq them to go on a salad. If you have got the balls to give this a go, you will not be disappointed.

100g piece galangal, peeled and sliced
100g piece turmeric, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 kaffir lime, peeled and cut into 8
3 dried red chillies, soaked in boiling water
1.5 tsp shrimp paste

Put all the ingredients in a liquidiser (or pestle and mortar) except for the chilli water, which you will need. Put 100ml of chilli water in the liquidiser and turn the power on. Keep adding the chilli water a little at a time until the paste is smooth but not too runny. The chilli water is just to help the blades break everything down. This may take some time and you may need to turn it off and work the ingredients around with a spatula every once in a while.

If you can't get any of the ingredients in the supermarket, they are available in Asian stores.