Panang Curry Paste

A Thai Curry Paste made with a mix of peanuts and other herbs, a few spoonful of this paste will add flavour and taste to your very basic curry. This can be had with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. Although fish or prawn paste is not required, I did add a spoon of the same to mine, since I was planning on using this in a non vegetarian curry. Just omit that and proceed with the rest of the ingredients. You can also add a bit of peanut butter if you prefer a slightly sweeter version. I haven't put sugar in the curry paste. But you can adjust the sugar while making the curry. This is slightly spicy but a very flavorful.

Kaafir lime and lemongrass are important ingredients to add flavour to this paste. And so is galangal or Thai Ginger. Due to the lockdown I did not get Kaafir Lime leaves so substituted with the zest of a lemon. Also I used regular ginger and coriander powder instead of seeds. 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp peanuts

8 red dry chili

2 fresh green chili

1 onion

3 pods garlic

1/2 inch ginger

2 tbsp coriander leaves with stem

1 tbsp lemongrass

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp peppercorns

1 cardamom

2 mace

1 tsp fish sauce, optional

5 kaafir lime leaves or 1 lemon zest

Salt, to taste

Method:

Rehydrate the red chilli in a bit of warm water. 

Roast the peanut, cardamom, mace, cumin, coriander and peppercorns.  

Blend everything in a blender into a very smooth paste, add very little water if required.

This paste will keep for almost two months in a freezer. Use as per your recipe demands.