Help me learn the concept of home-made curry please...

Yes, to make a good Thai curry, you start with paste and add it to simmering coconut milk and chicken stock.

The paste isn't really all that difficult, but you should use both a mortar and pestle to grind the freshly toasted spices (toasting is pretty important to the flavor) and then use a food processor to actually make the paste. It also helps to have an extra little coffee grinder to grind your cumin and coriander seeds before you combine it with the softer ingredients like shallots, garlic, kemongrass, galangal/ginger (when it's called for) in the mortar and pestle. Basically, what you're doing with the mortar and pestle is breaking down the shallots, garlic and galangal into a "prepaste" by crushing it and mashing it with the dry spices.

It usually only takes about 20 minutes total (and a little elbow grease with the mortar and pestle). You can probably find some good paste recipes on the net. I use the recipes from the great book, "True Thai" by Victor Sodsook. The only possibly hard to find ingredients are shrimp paste and galangal. Look in your local international market for the former - the latter can be hard to find and, if so, you can substitute freshly grated ginger without too much harm (galangal is basically Thai ginger and it's also called "Kha"). You can also substitute Japanese chiles for Thai Bird's Eye chiles.

The paste will keep in the 'fridge for a week or two as long as it's in an airtight container (some say that you can keep it for a month, but I've never found that to be the case) and you can freeze it for about 4 months..

When you assemble the coconut broth, you'll also need some fish sauce for seasoning. You'll need lemongrass to get the true flavor of Thai curry.

Pork butt really needs hours to tenderize. When I smoke it, a 6 lb piece takes around 12 hours. You really need a long slow cook at around 250 degrees to break down all of the connective tissues and fat. Think of Memphis BBQ. When you pull it, it almost melts. Any quicker cooking and you run the risk of it being tough. If you want a shorter time, use boneless country style ribs. You can actually slow cook them in about 4 hours or less.

I don't think pork is all that common in a Thai curry. However, if I were to do one, I'd probably use pork tenderloin and just slice it into stir fry size pieces and stir fry them quickly, leaving them a little undercooked (probably no more than about a minute in a hot wok). Then I'd add it to the curry broth and finish cooking it that way.

Just my two cents...hope this helps...

Oh yeah, the only water you want to use to cut the paste when it's in the food processor is the water you used to soak the dried chiles.

And finally, remember that there are quite a few different types of curry paste other than just red or green. some are very mild and some are quite spicy.

teleburst in Home Cooking