Vegan Thai Curry Paste

This Vegan Thai Curry Paste is a heavenly blend of fragrant spices, lemongrass, limes, ginger and garlic – combine with creamy coconut milk and you can imagine the explosion of flavour in your mouth.

 I have never in my life made my own Thai curry paste, mainly because its flavour complexity and lengthy ingredients list make it intimidating. But this time I decided to challenge myself. I have a cupboard full of spices, some from when I’ve been travelling, but most of which have been acquired from local supermarkets.  Surely there’s bound to be an adequate selection amongst this lot to make a Thai curry paste!

I will say this, the hardest thing to find on the list was the lemongrass. I didn’t have the fresh stuff nor the dried whole version anywhere, just a sachet of powder from one of my trips to Thailand. I’ll be using the powder in this recipe but the whole lemongrass will give a more potent flavour. Now it’s definitely not impossible to source locally from your grocery store, but it might not be a walk in the park.

Apart from that, everything else is fine and dandy. All you need is a food processor and you can stick Thai red curry on your dinner menu for tonight!

Questions about Vegan Thai Curry Paste

How to make Thai Curry Paste from scratch? To make vegan thai curry paste, you will need the following spices: cumin seeds, coriander seeds and turmeric. The sauces you will need are: tamari, maple syrup, sesame oil and the juice of 2 limes. Fresh ingredients required are: garlic, ginger, shallots, yellow pepper, chilli, lemongrass (if using fresh). Additional ingredients are: nori sheet, coconut powder and salt. In a frying pan, dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds for a few minutes. Add to a blender along with the other ingredients until a smooth yellow paste results. When ready to eat, add 2-3 tbsp to a can of coconut milk, heat and serve with rice.

Is Thai curry paste vegan? Thai curry pastes are not often vegan due to the addition of fish sauce. However, if the fish sauce is not added, the paste could be vegan. This recipe uses nori sheet instead of fish sauce to achieve a similar flavour.

Vegan Thai Curry Recipe

Serving size:

Makes 1 200g sized jar of paste

Ingredients for vegan thai curry:

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbs tamari
• ½ sheet nori
• 2 tbsp coconut milk powder + 100 ml water
• 2 shallots
• 4 tbsp fresh ginger
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 large yellow pepper
• 1 finger chillies
• 1 tbsp lemongrass powder / 3-4 stalks fresh lemongrass
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Method:

1. In a frying pan, dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds for around 3 minutes.
2. Blitz in the food processor.
3. To the same processor, add the remaining ingredients and blend, scraping down the sides when necessary with a spatula.
4. Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to a month.
5. When ready to use, add 2-3 tbsp to a can of coconut milk and heat before serving.

Made this Vegan Thai Curry?

If you had a go at this Vegan Thai Curry Paste please feel free to give me a shout on Instagram at @food_flaneur  – would love to see your pics!

If you like Thai food…

You should definitely give these recipes a try:

Tofu Curry

Thai Green Curry Noodle Soup

Mango Sticky Rice

Thai Rice and Beans Bowl

Drunken Noodles

Big Thanks to…

The Minimalist Baker for their inspiration in helping me create this recipe. You can find their version here: https://minimalistbaker.com/easy-red-curry-paste/.

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