Ingredients list:
Curry:
2 cans(400ml) coconut milk
1 tablespoon shredded lime leaves
1/2 teaspoon palm sugar
2 cups sliced beef/chicken/pork/tofu etc
Carrots, whatever other veggies you want
2 tablespoons fish sauce
Curry Paste:
1/3 cup big dried chilies, soaked until soft with seeds removed
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons galangal, cut into matchsticks (Can substitute with ginger if you cant find any)
2 tablespoons lemongrass, cut into thin rounds
1 tablespoon coriander root (Literally, the white root part from a bunch of coriander. Its usually not present on herbs you buy from a coles or whatever, you might have to get it from a market or an asian grocer.)
1 teaspoon toasted coriander seeds
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
2 tablespoons garlic
2 tablespoons shallots
1 tablespoon roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
You should be able to get all the ingredients from your local asian grocer, no matter how dodgy and small it looks. They always seem to have everything stored somewhere. Also, for the cumin and coriander seeds, try get them from a fresh spice stall at a market if possible rather than from a jar in a supermarket, makes a big difference in the flavour.
You'll need a good mortar and pestle to make this as well. They're not that expensive, and you can use them to make all kinds of awesome stuff like pesto and curries and whatnot. Get one!
Alrighty:
1. Soak your chillis in a bowl of water for half an hour to soften them up a bit, then cut them in half lengthways and remove the seeds and guts. While they're soaking, get your pan to a medium high heat and dry toast the cumin and coriander seeds and peanuts seperately for 3-5 minutes until fragrant. Set the peanuts aside, and grind the cumin/coriander in the mortar until they're a fine powder.
2. Prepare the rest of the ingredients as listed up top (Dice lemongrass, galangal etc)
3. Add chillis to mortar with some coarse rock salt and bash them into a uniform pulp. Once thats achieved, add the lemongrass and bash that like an abo in police custody. You're looking to get it to this stage:
4. Add the garlic, galangal, shallots, peanuts, coriander root and ground seed powder to the paste and pound to an even consistency.
5. Once all the other ingredients are properly mixed in, put the shrimp paste in and mix it through. Your paste is now ready to cook.
6. Get your pan to a medium high heat again and put in about half a cup of coconut milk. It should sizzle and begin to bubble straight away if the pan is hot enough. Now add all the paste to the pan to fry. The aim is to keep it moist but not soggy, and not let it dry right out and stick to the pan. You'll need to add about 1/4 cup of coconut milk every minute or so to keep it in this state while you fry it.
'7. After about 5 minutes of frying and adding milk you'll start seeing a lot of oil rising from the shrimp paste, this means U R DOIN IT RITE. Once you've done it for about 5 minutes it will look something like this and you're ready to add the veggies/meat etc. I was cooking for a vegetarian so I used tofu, it wouldve been nicer with some chicken but oh well, next time.
8. Cook your ingredients on a medium simmer for about 5 minutes or until cooked. Add the palm sugar and fish sauce. You might find the amount of coconut milk is being reduced too much, if so add more. Its really up to you how much liquid you like in your curry. I lean towards drowning my rice in it so I used heaps. Roll up some kaffir lime leaves and slice finely and stir through the curry while it simmers. Let that go for a few more minutes and its ready to serve.
9. Serve atop a bed of long grain rice. (Basmati, Jasmine, dont really care what you use). Sprinkle with a few little bits of lime leaf and a coriander sprig to decorate. Eat, bask in the reflected glow of your own awesomeness and admiration from friends.
