Red Curry Paste Made with Dried Red Chiles

Ancho (Ahn-cho) Chile (Capsicum Annum) means Wide Chile Pepper. This chile ranges from 3 – 4 on a heat scale of 1 to 10. An Ancho is the dried form of a Poblano Pepper and often is mislabeled as a Pasilla or Mulato Pepper. Anchos have sweet fruity flavor with hints of cherry, prune, and fig. Anchos, combined with the Pasilla and Guajillo, form the Holy Trinity of chiles used to prepare the traditional mole sauces. Scoville heat units are 1,000 to 3,000.

Heat Scale
Submit Recipe

INGREDIENTS
8-10 dried red chile peppers
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2.5 tsp whole cumin seeds
1.5 tablespoons of whole coriander seeds
50 grams or 1.76 oz of roughly chopped onion
20 grams or .70 oz of fresh, peeled ginger
3 large garlic cloves, peeled
40 grams or 1.41 oz of fresh cilantro leaves (stems and roots include)
zest from one small lime (used as a substitute for lemongrass)
the juice of the lime
half a teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons of fish sauce (subbing for fish paste)
1.5 tablespoons of olive oil or any vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of paprika or red chile powder (this is to give the paste more red colour)
ADD TO SHOPPING LIST SAVE RECIPE
View list – Saved recipes Powered by
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 3-4 Servings
PREPARATION

1. Place the dried chilies in hot water and set aside to soak and soften. Place the peppercorns, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle; Grind them into a fine powder and set aside.

2. Place the onion, ginger, garlic cloves, cilantro leaves, lime zest, and lime juice into a food processor; Process until completely broken down into a paste. Drain the chilies, remove stem (and seeds if desired) and place into the food processor.

Add the ground spices, turmeric powder, fish sauce, vegetable oil and paprika into the food processor. Process all of the ingredients until you you have a smooth paste and until everything is well incorporated.

3. Taste and if you’d like, tweak the spices and/or chilies. The goal is to achieve a curry paste that is to your liking and heat level. Once done, store in the refrigerator until ready to use. It will keep fresh for about a week or longer in the freezer. (Check out this guide for freezing curry paste.)

From spicyfood.about.com