Toasted-Spice Massaman Curry Paste from Scratch

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The most ambitious of the Thai curry pastes — a Persian-influenced blend where whole spices get dry-toasted until fragrant, aromatics get charred in a skillet until sweet and blistered, and everything gets ground into a dense, mahogany-colored paste. Made properly, it tastes nothing like the canned version: cardamom and clove up front, roasted shallot and galangal underneath, shrimp paste holding it all together. One batch makes enough for four generous curries, and it freezes beautifully.

Ingredients

• 8 large dried mild red chiles, such as guajillo or Thai dried spur chiles
• 2 dried bird's eye chiles, optional, for heat

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp white peppercorns
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 5 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 1 star anise
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 6 oz shallots, peeled and halved (about 5 medium)
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers removed, bottom 6 inches thinly sliced
• 2 inch piece fresh or frozen galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
• 4 cilantro roots, or 6 cilantro stems, chopped

• 1 tbsp Thai shrimp paste (kapi)
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp finely grated makrut lime zest, or regular lime zest
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, plus more for storing
• 2 tbsp water, as needed

Instructions

1. Stem the dried chiles, slit them open with scissors, and shake out most of the seeds. Toast them in a dry skillet over medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes total, pressing and flipping constantly, until they smell sweet and darken slightly — do not let them scorch or the paste turns bitter. Transfer to a bowl, cover with very hot water, and soak 20 minutes.
2. In the same dry skillet over medium-low heat, toast the coriander, cumin, and white peppercorns for 2 to 3 minutes, shaking often, until the coriander is a shade darker and audibly popping. Add the cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon, and star anise and toast 1 to 2 minutes more, until deeply aromatic. Tip everything onto a plate to stop the cooking and cool completely, about 5 minutes.
3. Crack the cardamom pods and discard the husks, keeping the seeds. Grind all the toasted spices with the nutmeg in a spice grinder or clean coffee grinder to a fine powder, 45 to 60 seconds, shaking the grinder as you go. Set aside.
4. Return the skillet to medium heat with no oil. Add the shallots and garlic and dry-char for 8 to 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until blackened in patches and soft when squeezed. Add the lemongrass, galangal, and cilantro roots and char 3 to 4 minutes more, until the edges brown and the pan smells intensely fragrant. Remove to a plate.
5. Wrap the shrimp paste in a small piece of foil, flatten it into a packet, and toast it in the dry skillet over medium heat for 1 minute per side. It should smell savory and nutty rather than raw. Unwrap and set aside.
6. Drain the chiles, squeezing out excess water, and chop them roughly. Combine the chiles, charred aromatics, toasted shrimp paste, salt, and lime zest in a mini food processor or the small jar of a blender. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil and pulse, scraping down the sides every 20 seconds, for 3 to 4 minutes, adding water 1 teaspoon at a time only if the blades stall. You want a thick, smooth paste that holds its shape on a spoon — not a purée.
7. Add the ground spice powder and process 1 minute more to fully incorporate. Rub a pinch between your fingers: if it still feels gritty from the lemongrass or galangal, keep going, or press the paste through a medium sieve with the back of a spoon for a silky result.
8. Taste a tiny amount on the tip of a spoon. It should be salty, intensely spiced, and slightly bitter — it comes into balance only when cooked with coconut cream and palm sugar. Adjust salt if it tastes flat. You should have about 1 1/2 cups.
9. To use: fry 1/4 cup of paste in 1/2 cup of thick coconut cream over medium heat for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring, until the fat splits and pools red around the edges. This step is not optional — it is what turns the paste into curry. Then add protein, remaining coconut milk, potatoes, roasted peanuts, palm sugar, fish sauce, and tamarind.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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