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.