This one is a doozie! I had to do a lot of research on this paste/spice mix. It is insanely spicy & flavorful. My main sources for this mix are Recipe Tin Eats , Eating Thai Food & of course, my favorite Marion Grasby. I ended up with a super spicy mix.
Ingredients
9 Dry Red Chiles (I used Thai)
2 Tsp Ground White Pepper
½ Tsp Cumin Powder
½ Tsp Coriander Powder
9 Whole Garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp Fresh Chopped Cilantro (Mostly Stems)
1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Lemongrass
1 Large Shallot (Or Two Small) Chopped
1 Tbsp of Galangal or Ginger, Grated
Zest of 1 Lime or ½ Peel of Kaffir Lime
½ Tsp of Shrimp Paste
½ Tsp of Salt
Preparation
Rehydrate chiles with hot water for about half an hour. **Reserve water that you use to rehydrate the chiles.
Roughly chop chiles and add to your blender. Add all ingredients plus about 4 tablespoons of the chili water.
Blend until well incorporated.
Tips
You can make this vegan by using a vegan miso paste instead of shrimp paste.
I used this paste to make a tofu and butternut squash curry that I adapted from this recipe. It was SUPER spicy to me, so I would suggest, if you don't like it too spicy, to scale down the curry paste by one tablespoon. Mine didn't come out too red, though, because I used a lot of butternut squash! :)
