I just harvested a bushel of lemon drop peppers from my garden. With mild to medium heat, they are perfect for a kid-friendly curry paste! You can substitute any mild to medium heat chile in this recipe, but just taste it as you add them to get it where you want. If you desire a “we’re all adults here” curry paste, just add more chiles, baby, ’cause ya know we like it hot! Keep in mind the flavor should be concentrated enough for one or two cubes to season a whole pot of curry.

I also have a giant lemongrass bush in my yard. Lemongrass is extremely easy to grow and a bit of a pain to harvest. Just wear gloves and a long-sleeved shirt. You can also buy fresh or dried lemongrass as well as galangal(and all the other ingredients really)from an asian market. I got the galangal from a friend who grows it and I planted some from what he gave me. Galangal also grows easy down here, along with its cousins; ginger and turmeric, although they will die back in a freeze. You can substitute ginger if you can’t find galangal, but maybe use half as much to start, as ginger is much stronger.

I like to make this in a pretty big batch because the peppers come in all at once and the other ingredients can be difficult to source, so it really only makes sense to go big. I freeze the paste in ice cube trays and voila! For a whole year making curry is easy as cooking down some vegetables and whatever protein you want, throwing in a couple cubes, some broth and/or coconut milk, and simmering for a while. I will post a more specific curry recipe soon. For now, here is how to make yellow curry paste. This recipe makes about 2 1/2 ice cube trays, or around 37 cubes.

ingredients

• 26 chiles; halved and de-seeded
• 10 stalks lemongrass; sliced
• 8 thumb-sized chunks of galangal(or ginger); peeled and sliced
• 1-2 heads garlic(I used about 26 cloves)
• 2 tbsp ground turmeric
• 8 tsp ground coriander
• 8 tsp ground cumin
• 4 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup fish sauce
• about 8 large pinches white pepper(or 12 twists of the grinder)
• juice of 2 limes(about 1/2 cup)
• 1 can coconut milk
• optional add ins; 10-15 shallots, 4 tbsp tomato paste, 4 tsp fenugreek, 2 tsp fennel, 2 tsp mustard powder, 1 tsp clove, 2 tsp carraway
• other options; roasting or smoking the shallots, ginger or galangal, and garlic before puréeing will add depth of flavor, but I do prefer the brightness of flavor and color of keeping it fresh

process

Once you have gathered and prepared all your ingredients, put everything except the coconut milk in the food processor and turn her on. Then, slowly add the coconut milk. You could probably do this in a powerful blender, but you will have to do it in several smaller batches.

If you like to make pestos, curry paste nut butters, mayo, mustard, salad dressings, etc., I cannot recommend getting a food processor strongly enough. I know people want to believe that their vitamix is the one true god of countertop kitchen appliances, but its superpower is liquifying, not grinding and emulsifying. I urge you to learn to bow to all things useful and nurturing. The kitchen is no place for monotheism and anyway, food processors are way cheaper. I see them for sale at estate sales all the time. My kitchenaid is a workhorse. I’ve been slamming it around almost daily for about 10 years now and the motor is still going strong, the plastic doesnt have so much as a crack, and I’ve never had to sharpened the blades.

Anyway, that’s all folks, just freeze it and you’re done. I will let ya’ll know when I get around to using it in some orgasmiccally satisfying curry dish, but you will have to wait because…. road trip!!! Hopefully, loads of gorgeous mushroom pictures will ensue. The chanterelles are singing. Can you hear them?

Chantey chantey chantey om.