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Sunday, February 17, 2008

Matsaman Curry Paste



Matsaman or massaman is a traditional Thai curry, often made with stronger meats such as duck and lamb. The full curry recipe is here. This should make enough curry paste to cook up a four-man Thai matsaman or even massaman curry. You can, of course, use nam pla (fish sauce) instead of the shrimp paste.

Ingredients

  • 10 dried chilis
  • 3 tbsp oil
  • 100g onion, diced
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves
  • 6 cloves garlic, diced
  • 1 tsp coriander seed
  • 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 tsp cardamom seeds
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 2 tsp black peppercorns
  • 2 blades mace
  • 1 tbsp chopped galangal
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 stick lemon grass, chopped finely
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp shrimp paste

Dry roast the whole spices in a pan until they start to crackle and pop. Leave them to cool for a bit and then grind them. Put the ground spice in a pan over a high heat along with the chilli and the shrimp paste and as soon as things start to smoke, remove from the heat for a second then add the oil and then the onion, garlic, lemongrass and galangal. Stir fry for two minutes, then leave to cool. Whizz, adding a little more oil if necessary, to form a thick paste. Freeze until you need it.

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