The base for a Thai or Vietnamese Curry is an aromatic and hot curry paste. Since in a lot of pastes you find prawns, shrimps, or fish sauce, we created our own vegan paste. The great advantage of such a self-made paste is the possibility to vary the degree of hotness individually by the amount of chili you add. To cook a tasty curry with the paste, you just fry the basic ingredients (e.g. tofu or vegetables) with 2-3 teaspoons curry paste in a bit coconut oil. Add coconut milk and let it simmer until the vegetables are ready. Decorate the curry with fresh herbs (e.g. coriander or Thai basil).

Slice the chillies and remove all seeds. Soak the pods with the lime leaves for about 30 minutes in lukewarm water. Chop shallots, garlic, and galangal. Thinly slice the bottom 5cm of the lemon grass. (You can cook the rest in broth to add a nice flavour to Asia soups.) Roast the dry spices without oil in a pan until they scent, and finely grind them. With an immersion blender or a mortar, process all ingredients to a paste and fill it in a clean jar. If you keep the paste in the fridge it is good for several weeks.

FoR 150 Gram

15-20 g dried red chili peppers

2 kaffir lime leaves

4 shallots

3 cloves of garlic

15 g galangal

2 stalks lemon grass

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds

2 cloves

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

1/2 star anise

1 tsp salt

1 tsp virgin coconut oil