Massaman Curry Paste

This mild curry, named after the Muslim people in southern Thailand, is spiced with cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, and used for hearty stew-like dishes.

It is one of the mildest and most fragrant of the Thai curries.

Ingredients

10 gms of dried red chilis -  I used 1 huge pod. Pick your chili dependant on the heat you want.

2 cardamom pods, roasted ( no stores in my area have cardamom pods, I opted to use 1/2 tsp ground dried cardamom).

1 1/4 teaspoon whole cumin seed, roasted

1 1/2 tablespoon whole coriander seed, roasted

1 1/2 teaspoons shrimp paste, roasted

1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stalk lemon grass, finely sliced

1 tablespoon finely chopped, peeled galangal (Substitute ginger root if you cannot find galangal)

1/4 cup fresh chopped garlic

third cup chopped red onion

Soak chilis in warm water.

Line a tray with tin foil. Put spices  cardamom, cumin, coriander, and shrimp paste on tray and roast in oven until fragrant.

Combine peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and roasted spices, grind in mortar and pestal for best results,... or if you don't have one put them in a zip lock bag and pound with flat side of a mallet until all are ground up and combined.

Finely chop remaining ingredients and transfer to food processor with the ground spices and shrimp paste.

Process to a paste using some of the soaking water if necessary.

Store in the fridge. Keep sup to 2 weeks. Or freeze in ice cube tray.