Red Thai Curry Sauce (2024)

FAQs

What is Thai red curry sauce made of? ›

Red curry paste is a versatile and flavorful base for a variety of Thai dishes. In its most basic form, it consists of red chili peppers, garlic, sea salt, lemongrass, turmeric, and shrimp paste (source).

You could of course add more red bird's eye chillies to turn that zing into a zap. Thai red curries are Thai restaurant favourites. The red colour is from the red curry paste and the colour will vary depending on how many red spur chillies you use in the paste.

The secret to making amazing Thai curries is to use plenty of aromatics, like onion, ginger and garlic. Choose full-fat coconut milk for its richness (you won't regret it!). Stirring in just a little bit of rice vinegar and sugar adds tons of complexity.

Another simple way to improve the taste of bland curries is by adding some slightly roasted onions, garlic, ginger. You can toss or caramelize them separately and add them to the curry and simmer for sometime so that it can absorb the flavours.

Thai curries have a brighter flavor and soupier consistency, because they use lots of fresh herbs and are cooked for less time than Indian curries. It's worth your time stocking up on some of the unique ingredients — you can freeze herbs like lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves for multiple future uses.

How can I thicken up a Thai red curry sauce? Make a slurry of cornflour and water, say a teaspoon of flour to a tablespoon of cold water, mix it well and drizzle it into the curry sauce, drizzle half in and stir to thicken and if not thick enough add more and so on.

Often, Thai curries are made using coconut milk as the main liquid, which results in a creamy consistency. You can use as much or as little coconut milk as you wish based on your preference for texture, spice, and flavor.

palm sugar (or brown sugar) helps balance the fish. Sweet Thai basil has an distinct anise like flavor and gives the curry nice aromatic finish. You can find them at mostAsian grocery stores. Fish sauce adds a savory depth of flavor.

Other Thai / Malaysian curry pastes such as, yellow curry, laksa or Massaman also work well as substitutes. Indian curry pastes including madras, korma and vindaloo can also be used.

It's important to taste your curry before serving, to check the seasoning and intensity. If at that final taste you find your flavors are too intense, too spicy, and even tasting a bit metalic, add in some fresh coconut milk. It will mellow out all the flavors and add a lovely fresh coconut aroma.

What Thai curry is best for beginners? ›

Yellow curry is perhaps the mildest (although this can vary widely by restaurant and who's in the kitchen!), usually with more turmeric, shallots, garlic, and ginger. Potatoes often make an appearance in yellow curry, along with chicken and onions.

Traditionally, all Thai curries were made with the same ingredients except for one thing: the chilies. Red curry was made with several red chilies for a fiery hot dish, while green curry was made with green chilies and yellow curry was made with yellow chilies.

To make the curry look red add good amount of tomato paste and add less onion as the tomato paste will give it a dark red colour. Add a little bit of sugar in the oil when hot and before adding the onions etc. Kashmiri red chilly powder also adds color.

Adding more vegetables to the curry can help dilute the spice. Using coconut milk or cream can also reduce the spiciness. Adding citrus or vinegar provides a tangy flavor that balances the heat. Yogurt or sour cream can cool down the curry.

Thai Red Curry, like most Asian curries, has a great depth of flavour. The sauce flavour is complex, it has many layers from all the ingredients in the paste that is then simmered with broth and coconut milk. It's sweet and savoury, and it is quite rich.

In general, Thai yellow curry is the mildest, Thai red curry is medium-hot and Thai green curry is spicy, although it can sometimes vary depending on what region of Thailand you are in. Read on for my complete guide to Thai curries… and all my tips and tricks on how to dial down the heat.

This dish is also known as 'the spicy curry', just a subtle hint that the dish packs a few fiery ingredients. It draws its name (and colour) from the large volume of red chillies used to make its paste.

All Thai-ed Up

All curry paste is made with the same or fairly similar base ingredients - hot chilies, lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallot, shrimp paste, and dry herbs like cumin and coriander seeds, and turmeric.