how to make thai red curry paste? beef red curry w/pumpkin

[luv-my-boys]

So DH and I absolutely love thai food, however, the only real authentic Thai around these parts is quite expensive. Its good but a $60 meal is very constricting budjet wise. So I have begun making some of our favorite dishes and so far its been pretty good. My only thing is I have this recipe for Beef red curry w/pumpkin (which we had at the restaurant) and it is wonderful. I found the recipe online and it seems to have all the same ingredients (restaurant does not give their recipes out no matter how much I beg) but it calls for red curry paste which is not available here (I have checked several ethnic and main stream stores and nothing. Anyone know how to make it? or have a good beef and red curry with pumpkin recipe? Thanks

[serenbat]

(restaurant does not give their recipes out no matter how much I beg)

Most will, if you go thru a magazine, such as Bon Appetite (they have a special section for requests) - it is view as a free ad for the place, most would be flattered.

Have check any on line placed for your RED curry? If you could say a bit more about the type of item you are looking for, in the recipe how much is used? Wegman's does carry some curries, and I have seen lots of RED in our local asia markets. There are different types of RED curry that is why I am asking.

www.thaikitchen.com/equivalent.html (there is a sub here)
or IF this is the type you want, you could just buy it from them -
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/n...grfnbr=1339450

[cristeen]

OH, yum. I love pumpkin curry. Although around here it's usually made with chicken.

Let me go dig up my curry books...

From "Curries":
Thai Red Curry Paste
1 Tbs coriander seed
1 Tbs cumin seed
2 tsp shrimp paste
12 dried or fresh red chilies, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece fresh galangal, chopped
2 lemon grass stalks (white part only), chopped
4 kaffir lime leaves, chopped
2 Tbs fresh cilantro root
grated rind of 1 lime
1 tsp black peppercorns

Dry fry the coriander and cumin in a skillet, stirring constantly for 2-3 minuted until browned. Remove from heat and grind to a powder. Wrap the shrimp paste in a piece of foil and broil or dry fry for 2-3 minutes, turning once or twice. Combine the spices, shrimp paste and chilies in a FP or blender and process until finely chopped. Add the remaining ingredients and process again to a smooth paste, scraping down the sides as necessary.

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Considering the specialty ingredients you'd need, it may be easier just to order curry paste. I don't know where you are, but I know Amazon carries them for U.S. customers. Thai Kitchen is the brand I use - both the red and the green as well as the roasted chile paste. And one of those little jars lasts for ages in the fridge. You literally need like a tsp or less per meal. Unopened the jars will keep in the pantry for years.

I have a recipe for Carrot and Pumpkin curry that uses Yellow Curry Paste, a "Jamaican Curry" with pumpkin, a Spicy Butternut Curry (Indian) with chicken and spinach, a Vietnamese Chicken Curry with pumpkin. The only one I've tried is the Vietnamese, which is not spicy at all. None of them use red curry paste, and all but the carrot and pumpkin use whole spices instead of pastes if you're interested in the recipes.

[crunchy_mama]

http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaicur...r/redpaste.htm

here is another recipe similiar to cristeen's it says the galangal can be substituted for ginger and the shrimp paste optional- however it also has fish sauce in it- which was going to be my suggestion- fish sauce is pretty easy to find. Dried lemon grass is fairly easy to find as well. I didn't realize ginger was a galangal substitute but I always add it to curry- fresh is best, but dried will work.

http://www.thaikitchen.com/equivalent.html

thai kitchen even has their own recipe- they suggest substituting ginger for the galangal as well- evidently it is Chinese ginger. Little shrimp can be used instead of the paste and it has the dried lemongrass as well- I keep dried lemongrass on hand specifically for Thai dishes. A bit of lime juice and/or lime rind can be used for the lime leaves. Usually I just add a bit of juice myself and never do shrimp but fish sauce.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Red-Curry-Paste-133926

here is another recipe that has substitutions listed as well- it says you can use anchovy in place of the shrimp- never would have thought of that- but those are certainly easy to find.

For me I find the key when making any kind of curry is toasting the spices before blending it really brings out the flavor.

And holy cow I just read those recipe more close- I never use that many dried chiles! I can tolerate things pretty hot but goodness no I do not use that many- wow!

[luv-my-boys]

thank you guys so much: I ended up finding the store where you can order everything online including fresh produce!!!! I made the beef red curry w/pumpkin and it is awesome. Not quite the same but definately very very close.

http://importfood.com This is the link in case anyone needs good stuff...FYI I was a little leary of the produce and how it would arrive. Everything was packed very well I would definately buy again. It also has an awesome Thai recipe section that lets you know and buy the ingredients listed. Great authentic cookware also. I love this site.