How to Make Red Curry Paste - Easy vs Traditional Way

Making Thai curry paste from scratch can be an easy job, or it can be a workout depending on which method you choose. In this video I give you a complete guide to making a great Thai red curry paste, and show you all the tricks and tips to make it as easy as possible!
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About Pai:
Pailin “Pai” Chongchitnant is the author of the Hot Thai Kitchen cookbook, co-host of a Canadian TV series One World Kitchen on Gusto TV, and creator and host of the KZbin channel Pailin's Kitchen.
Pai was born and raised in southern Thailand where she spent much of her "playtime" in the kitchen. She traveled to Canada to study Nutritional Sciences at the University of British Columbia, and was later trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in San Francisco.
After working in both Western and Thai professional kitchens, she decided that her passion really lies in educating and empowering others to cook at home via KZbin videos, her cookbook, and cooking classes. She currently lives in Vancouver, and goes to Thailand every year to visit her family. Visit her at hot-thai-kitchen.com

[@natk426]

traditional way is the only way in Thailand. Mom get their children involved in house chores and pounding the curry paste was a task I had to do as a teenager half a century ago. thanks for sharing.

[@krispykruzer]

Child labour is good for such things

[@somnambulnation5681]

"...and the Asian squat adds to the authenticity." I laughed out loud. Very informative video. Thank you.

[@stevethea5250]

stamp ?

[@somnambulnation5681]

@@stevethea5250 9:27

[@tenkuchima]

Loved this. Funny, authoritative, honest. I've been using your Red Curry Paste recipe for almost 5 years and everyone loves the food I make with it.

[@royolstad8532]

I've been using your red curry paste procedures for a couple years, and love it. I make up batches where I can vacuum pack the amount I need for 4 people, and freeze it. This makes it much qucker and easier to whip up a stir fry or whatever. You are an excellent teacher. Thank you

[@happy_camper]

My favorite channel on KZbin. Always informational and fun to watch! My friends and family love my cooking now 😁

[@maunarose]

Thank you Pailin! I am thrilled to use an immersion blender (and not mortar and pestle!) to make Thai curry paste 😊

[@sharonwang1299]

Everything is crystal clear with your perfect explanation. I really love this video, thank you!

[@trefod]

Making curry paste is lots of fun. You get a sense of each ingredient from their smells. I've made red, green and panag pastes.

[@artistlovepeace]

I know sometimes you feel like you're talking to yourself. You are not. I learn a lot from you and revisit my past when I had a lot of beautiful Thai food. Thai is one of my favorite experiences of food in my warm brain. I love that you are sharing all the secrets and brands to make these beautiful dishes that can feed every human being. Love you so much for showing the truth.

[@wateradept88]

I make Indian and Malaysian curry paste in a mortar and pestle sometimes, and I do think it’s fun. I also definitely notice the quality is better too, because it’s all fresh ingredients with strong smell. Love learning from you! Thanks!

[@KaiTiura]

Wow, what an incredibly detailed explanation of the various ways to create this wonderful paste. Exceptional!

[@artistlovepeace]

The world learns a lot from your productions. I wish every human on earth could taste these wonderful dishes.

[@suzaynnschick158]

I truly appreciate your experience and wisdom in this. Thank you!

[@candleby]

Definitely homemade. I yet have to find a store-bought paste where the predominant flavor is not that of preservatives. Also, it is always so much more satisfying to have made a meal from scratch. Thanks for another great video, Pailin!

[@VicBattlefield]

Sawaddee krup, Khun Pai! The sound of mortar pounding brings back fond childhood memories from back home when every household in my neighborhood start preparing dinner in the afternoon. Thank you so much for this enlightening video because I never knew how to make my own curry. I´m going to try it out soon. 😋

[@Terence.McKenna]

One of the best things I've ever tasted. Red curry paste made me fall in love with Thai cuisine

[@stevenjacobs2750]

Made a big batch of this recipe and it is so flavorful and delicious! 10/10 well done

[@das_ein]

I’ve made curry paste using a Mini Cuisinart food processor. It’s the size of a coffee grinder, but the shape of a processor, so it works well with wet ingredients. The paste was for Tikka Masala from the Jaime Oliver cookbook and it tastes amazing. Now inspired to make a Thai paste, thank you! 😊

[@leester9487]

If I'm cooking for others, I have to make my own, because of the heat. But I really like the Mae Ploy. Yum. You''re so right about it being a great flavor base. One of my week night dinners is braised pork with pineapple with a crap ton of red curry paste. I sure wish we could get cilantro root though.

[@jshoota19ify]

Always love your videos. I like your little sarcastic humor. Example: when you mentioned the "stress relief" and "workout" with the traditional way, haha! You're like, "Have fun with that." Bless your heart for demonstrating it. Love the classic "Asian squat". It's versatile for so many activities, 😂...Great video.

[@stevethea5250]

timestamps?

[@wrayven]

Pai, you have one of the best channels on KZbin. I have learned so much from you. I will stick with Aroy-D or Mae Ploy, but I learned so much from this video. After watching the whole video, I will try the handmade method.

[@kevinluke9538]

Thank you for this easy to follow recipe with all the explanations and caution!

[@samoofficial2535]

I love you Pailin, thanks for all the inspirations!

[@cilimosi]

Thank you Pailin for these recipes. Love you channel.

[@-RONNIE]

I think homemade vs store bought both are good & have their uses for certain recipes also time has a factor in it as well. Thanks for your video

[@GG-qg2iu]

Thank you! I never thought of using an immersion blender for anything other than liquids. Also, thanks for the tip on vegan curry paste.

[@Seattle_Daniel]

I will give this a try. I buy one of the curry pastes you recommend and end up having to use less because of the spice. Using a different mixture of chilis makes a lot of sense. And +1 for the immersion blender idea!

[@Mickman007]

I made a thai red curry the traditional way a month ago and i went into my local thai shop to buy shrimp paste and the thai lady was surprised that that i wasn't using packet paste as she muttered that "some people prefer that way", thanks for a very good subject vlog Pailin.......cheers

[@ZOOTSUITBEATNICK1]

So glad to see another vid after what seems like a long time. I made my own curry paste some time ago. Liked the taste a bunch but hated the process.

[@gillianyao6976]

I found this video is very useful and entertaining 😊 Thanx for making it!

[@DrR0BERT]

I have made my own pastes a number of times. I love it. I start with dry spices which are ground in a coffee grinder. What I do differently when it comes to pounding is to pound each non-spice ingredient separately into its own paste. I remove it from the mortar and pestle. I don't "clean" the mortar when pounding the next ingredient. I end with the shallots. Pounding shallots alone is an issue, but then I start adding the dry spices in to absorb that moisture. I keep adding the remaining ingredients one at a time (including the shrimp paste) in order of dryness. When I get to the garlic, that's when I pound to mix and break down any large pieces. Also, I usually double the shrimp paste, because I love it.

[@Superfastjellyfish669]

Thank you for pronouncing guajillo perfectly

[@SBinVancouver]

I learned to do this "the hard way" one-on-one with a Thai Chef in northern Thailand. After I grew tired from pounding the chilies, they had an 18 year old Thai boy to finish it up for me "like it was a walk in the park". Much appreciated. I think I'll go with technique number 1!

[@docohm50]

Thanks for sharing. I use a lot of dried chili's in my Mexican recipes. Very cool I can use these as a base for curry paste also.

[@lisalikesplants]

I've watched your channel for so long, thanks for this video from a long time fan. 😊

[@lumailisa]

This is such a good video! Thank you for posting this. The main reason I do homemade is because shop bought is always too spicy for our tastes. But we love the aromatics!

[@snlarini99]

I mix homemade with the shop bought to control the chillis and keep the "right flavour". This way I don't have to look for chillies and shrimp paste

[@4fun510]

Thanks a lot for your recipes ! It’s a real one 👍

[@noelani0138]

My local grocery got a basket of makrut limes and had no idea what they were. At one point the produce guy just gave me 10. I got 20 more for 10 cents each (small lime price). I used a few to infuse some white vinegar and boy it is amazing! My mouth started watering just thinking about it. I also preserved some the Moroccan way and put the rest in my freezer. Such an amazing find, they are not to be found anywhere in my town except that one time. I’m excited I can finally make my own curry paste.

[@hardvice]

Great video! If you haven’t seen them yet, it’s worth mentioning that blade grinder manufacturers have finally caught on to the fact that people use them for spices, so lots now come with removable, interchangeable metal bowls so you can have one for spices and a separate one for coffee - and you can wash the bowls in the dishwasher, finally. Some even have a bowl with different blades designed to work better with herbs and wet ingredients. They’re fantastic.

[@NicooRico]

What brand have you used or seen is the best? I'm interested in something like this.

[@PailinsKitchen]

That's brilliant! I have not seen that before but will def look it up!

[@hardvice]

@@NicooRico if you’re specifically looking for one with the cross blade for grinding herbs and other wetter ingredients, there’s one by Shardor. I can’t personally attest to that model, but I have a burr grinder by them that is shockingly good for the price, so I can at least vouch for the brand.

[@NicooRico]

@@hardvice thank you! I will check it out.

[@tinahillsdon2776]

Thank you you are so easy and pleasing to listen to

[@cleancutguy1892]

I made my own curry paste, and it's way better than store bought paste. As you mentioned, store bought paste is way salty and spicy. I do slighty toast the dry chillies so they come up as a fine powder when I use a grinder and the all over paste has a finer texture.

[@davidhalldurham]

Another excellent video!! I learn so much from you.

[@KUONGSKITCHEN]

So well explained. You’re the Thai Food Queen 👸 I normally do the easy way and I happen to have a small blender that can handle a small amount of ingredients without adding too much liquid in the paste. Alternatively I also buy a good commercial one as you described, but always have to add more sugar at the end because it’s too salty as you said.

[@KUONGSKITCHEN]

@Pailins-Kitchen- I’ve been learning from you how to cook Thai food for a long time. Among a lot of techniques you’ve been sharing, one thing I have to highlight is that you used the fat from the coconut milk to cook without the need of adding oil. I find this technique is very useful. And you also said some people in Thailand used water to cook instead of oil...such a healthy cooking style. Recently, the tasting of commercial Pad Thai products was very interesting. 😁👍🏻

[@hardvice]

Oh! Also, i’d love a video dedicated to making special curry pastes using store-bought or homemade red curry paste as a base. Your “semi-homemade” recipes for massaman and kua gling pastes are incredible, so I’d love to see what other variations you can make using the same approach!

[@PailinsKitchen]

I showed it in panang beef video also :)

[@hardvice]

@@PailinsKitchen y’know, you’d think I would have remembered that, considering I make your recipe for it all the time. :D

[@johnr1348]

Thanks Pai! I'll try it!

[@jbirsner]

Wow! What a great overview... and using Mexican/Latin chiles--much more accessible in USA--should be done for any number for spicy Asian dishes. Thanks so much

[@captanamerica163]

ขอบคุณ​ที่เผยแพร่​อาหาร​และ​วัฒนธรรม​ของเราให้ต่างชาติ​ได้รู้จัก​ เขาจะได้ไม่ทำผิดใส่สิ่งที่ไม่ควรใส่ลงไปในอาหาร​ของเรา​ มันทำให้ผิดเพี้ยน​ไป​ ขอบคุณ​คุณ​ไพริน​มากๆครับ​ ติดตามให้แ​ล้วครับ​

[@ardemisaguirre8088]

Thank you for this recipes 🥰🌹

[@eengsuriyati]

Thank you for your recipe

[@kingk2405]

Just to help for finding the ingredients ,the ‘lime ‘ are also called combava or kaffir lime and yes they are totally different from regular lime . Their fragrance is absolutely unique and amazing .

[@carolray3637]

Hello from Canada; I had wondered about the name of the lime, bcs I’d always known it by the K-word as well. In researching whether they were indeed the same thing, I found out that the K-word is a grave insult in other cultures, and should not be used. It is a slur akin to the N-word, in S Africa and other cultures. I was glad to learn this, and I hope you are, as well. Be well!

[@kingk2405]

@@carolray3637 I call a cat a cat ! Cheers 🥂

[@Naae_111]

Thank you, I live in France and here it's always labeled as Combava, and it took me quite a while to realize it was the same thing haha

[@kingk2405]

@@Naae_111 Yes a lot of pâtissiers and chefs in France use the combava . Try to put one combava zest in a flan pâtissier that’s amazing .

[@Naae_111]

@kingk2405 yes it's true !! Ooh definitely gonna try it, thanks for the idea haha, I have no doubt that it is :)

[@ClarionMumbler]

And the Asian squat adds to the authenticity. Those are the little tips and tricks i come here for.

[@robwelch1]

Thank-you for sharing 💕

[@niranjanadavid]

Homemade curry paste is way way better! Thanks for the step by step instructions!

[@lionelpechieras8724]

I usually use electric appliances to do it (because my mortar game is weak! 😅), and I often have to add liquids, but that doesn't interfere with the recipe I'm doing because I always match liquids with the recipe: it's either coconut milk or simply oil! As we get to fry curry paste in oil or reduced coconut milk in most of the recipes, it doesn't affect final result! 😜

[@loganmoriarty1155]

Your immersion blender trick was a game changer for me! I now only make my own curry paste and have been for years. And I always have the ingredients on hand either in the pantry or freezer, so I’ll whip up a curry paste even on a week night thanks to the immersion blender trick. Thanks Pai! 😁 WARNING THOUGH! I have broken a (cheaper) immersion blender on a curry paste 😬 I think i was just a little too aggressive with jamming it into the paste while blending, and the blade got caught. So if you’re like me and don’t have a super quality immersion blender, just be gentle and have a bit of patience. Since then, I haven’t had a problem.

[@PailinsKitchen]

Yes, a good one is definitely important here. So glad to hear it's been a game changer!

[@noelani0138]

@@PailinsKitchen Aloha. Is someone impersonating you on this thread? There are several comments in which you responded “communicate with me” but your name doesn’t have a check mark. 🤔

[@user-bj1nm7jz4x]

Thanks for the helpful tips, helped me understand a complicated topic

[@gialuanthang7716]

I didn't make my own red curry but I did make my own green curry paste some times. My experience was that yes it was much easier to customize and it was not as concentrated in terms of flavor as the one I bought (my paste was from Lobo). I had to spend a whole morning on that curry paste but I enjoyed the process and it was a nice weekend day. However for a week night when corporate drains all my energy I'm more than happy to use a store-bought paste for a 30-min dinner.

[@sazlinzainuddin1894]

Oh my god.. That chillies poundings reminds me on my younger days when my late dad does not want his asam pedas paste to be blended.. Tq for the recipe.. Always love Thai food.. Love from Msia..

[@SLYYINLoh]

Pailin. Hi yr Recipes skill so good. U so honestly to show your cooking Demonstration tqvm 🙏🙏👌🆗

[@brrrett1]

"The Asian squat adds to the authenticity". I love this chef!

[@Natalie-health-wellness]

Loved this video, yum 🩵

[@georgebartholemew8444]

This is a great video!

[@sousay2000]

Thanks for the lesson.

[@sousay2000]

@@Pailins-Kitchen- ok love to

[@jamesheng1878]

Asian mum squat? God I could cry. This takes me back

[@jeannamcgregor9967]

Cool! I'm growing a makrut lime for the leaves and I thought the limes themselves were useless! Now I know better. And I'll have to try the Asian Squat tip. 😂

[@Electricspaghetti369]

The most beautiful cutest chef on the youtubes!

[@theguynextdoor4978]

I'll put this video into my playlist. For now I'll use up the mae ploy and Blue elephant packages I bought in Bangkok.

[@frank_langmann]

it is so funny to watch this! THX such a lot 🙏🙏🙏 ❤

[@MLLL1234]

Love the video!!

[@thistlefooderie]

Very helpful!

[@yohanes2034]

As an Asian I so understand the workouts needed to grind paste using mortar and pestle lol. My arms almost fell out and your asian squat trick helps too. Changing from left to right arm, or position also help to combat the fatique and lactic acid build up lol

[@Moonlightrealgirl]

I use your recipe and only use my own curry pastes now! I have easy access to makrut limes in new zealand so the homemade paste always tastes better. The only thing is i use korean gochugaru… because i want it to be less spicy

[@ValTass14]

today I MADE MY OWN THAI CURRY 😭 thank you Pai, it turned out so good and didn’t even take that long. I did have to use lime leaves instead of zest, so I took that substitution but the cilantro at H Mart had roots attached…is that what you mean by cilantro roots? Anyway I used those plus a little stem just in case. I also doubled the recipe which I think helped out my immersion blender a bit. Now I have frozen curry paste, and extra frozen galangal, lemongrass and lime leaves for next time!!!!

[@sopauljauck4163]

i use the magic bullet and/or the ninja blender. The result is so fine that it looks like smoothie. I also added some olive oil.

[@HoHosKitchen]

great tips😍😍

[@SunnyIlha]

Sawatdee khap Thanks this is great 😃

[@stefanibush2064]

I love all you recipes and have made many of them.can i use regular fresh ginger? I have the rest of the ingredients even the kafir lime

[@franziska2222]

I like making curry pastes myself. For me, the main reason is the option to customize the paste: Many pastes are comparably salty and oftentimes, I just go for mild chili which allows me to see how much heat I want to add to the final dish. Another reason is that I cook for people with allergies to fish products and vegans. With storebought, you are then quite limited. Personally, I like to soak my chili whole and chop them later comparably finely but I like the convenience of using scissors. I might try that next time.

[@rafa6222]

Tried 2 processes in making a curry paste: blender / grinder vs mortar-and-pestle with herbs and spices. I prefer the latter better.

[@d.y.e3803]

I have Cuisinart food processors in three sizes along with a Twomeow coffee grinder that came with two stainless steel insert containers. I grind all kinds of food items. As for the Cuisinarts, I have three sizes; the regular 8-cup FP-8P1CRG model, the Cuisinart DLC-2 AMR Mini Plus Processor, and one more that's smaller than the Mini Plus, but I don't see a model number or model name on that one. I don't own an immersion blender. However, I do own two Japanese mortar and pestle sets (Suribachi and Surikogi ) which I've had since the 1980s. I use them a lot for grinding sesame seeds to make Japanese gomashio. Greetings from Los Angeles

[@jackmercer4244]

LOVE IT

[@Serenity_Dee]

the first time I ever used shrimp paste, I was staying with some friends who had two cats and two dogs; I had gotten it because I already knew fish sauce and oyster sauce are delicious and I wanted to experiment with this stuff as soon as I opened it every animal in the house teleported into the kitchen

[@AM-pc3yd]

Thank you so much for everything you do. This is the best Thai Cooking Channel. What is your advice on blue elephant spices specifically the curry paste?

[@PailinsKitchen]

Hi Adam here - and thanks! If you want to ask her that one directly though rather that put it out to the community (as she doesn't see the comments on here once the post is more than a week old as per her note above), you can check out all the options to get hold of her at hot-thai-kitchen.com/contact . Cheers!

[@B3-R]

Thanks very much for the presentation, some ingredients won't get easy to find here in Spain , that's why keep using Aroy-D, which isn't so fine and as homemade , I know because I live in Thailand many years.

[@B3-R]

@@Pailins-Kitchen- hi, please confirm it to me writing it to my email,that you know.

[@hanakaragodine4840]

Very funny, entertaining and importantly so detailed! I like how u mention dont put ur face near the grinder lol. I love doing that and regret 2 mins later. Lol. Stay awesome! ❤

[@andrea.reddig1971]

Thank you for this video. Now I can make my own paste 😜. I have a big request: can you show us, how to make a Massaman Paste? Please?

[@Peter-cm8vi]

I have always made my own red curry paste so cannot compare it with store bought pastes. Having been taught to make it the traditional way, I really appreciate the easy way (coffee grinder and stick blender). We also have a tree full of kaffir limes...I am wondering if I should start exporting them to Canada (I'm in 'Straya).

[@Peter-cm8vi]

@@Pailins-Kitchen- yeah righto, fraudster...you want me to invest in your crypto scam

[@isufan89]

what works for me is doing it in a traditional blender using some of the water i soaked the chiles in. then pan fry the paste to get that extra moisture out. and yeah its always better than store bought

[@thecunningkrugereffect]

Pailin, where do you FIND fresh galangal in Vancouver Canada?? I've been looking and can't any!

[@gaizkanov]

anyhow, can I use fresh chilis instead of the dried ones? can only find the arbol dried chilis here, but there are multiple of fresh chilis.

[@thebudge333]

I can smell it from here. Yum.

[@komosamiking162]

for those that want cilantro roots. Its so easy. just get some coriander seeds and put it into soil or potting mix in container. its so easy to grow. in north america it will survive to 10F. you still have it even i winter. I let mine go bolt and go to seed. i have hundreds of cilantro plants al over my house

[@FirstQube]

Thanks you.

[@abosaleh3003]

شكرا لك ❤

[@Brandon-md8iw]

I use an electric masala grinder ( Indian mixer grinder ) Works perfectly for Thai curry pastes

[@fuckyoutubeforchangingmyhandle]

Hi. Quick question. Since i don't like chillis i often substitute with ginger Powder. Would that be possible i this case? Or can i use dried bell peper? Or maybe a mix of both?

[@tavitlertritsumpun7160]

Hi Pai and Adam, This is very traditional way of making the curry paste. Now you can ask Adam to taste the paste to see whether it's better or not.

[@AdamHotThaiKitchen]

lol - I'm biased though :)

[@josecintron85]

2 quick questions... 1. Can you soak the dried chilies if using the stick blender to help the paste blend better? 2. how well does this freezes? I can see making a large batch and splitting it in an ice cube trays, freeze it and use as many cubes as I need when needed.

[@dodie-poopsco.6893]

if i soak the chilis, can i use the immersion blender? i dont have a spice grinder, but i have the blender as well as a mortar/pestle

[@srkuleo]

Awesome recipe, only one question, can shrimp paste be substituted with fish sauce?