Panang Curry
Instructions
The first step is to make the curry paste. Start by soaking the chilies in water until theyre soft. This could take up to a half hour. When theyre soft, cut them open to remove the guts & seeds.
Toast the cumin seeds, cilantro seeds and peanuts separately in a pan over medium heat. Roast each until fragrant, about 3-5 minutes.
Grind up the seeds together in a stone mortar & pestle until powdered. Remove and set aside.
Add your chilies with the salt to the stone mortar & pestle and pound until a paste. This will take awhile the skins are difficult to mash. Be patient.
When your chilies are a uniform paste, add the lemongrass. Pound until a paste. Then add the galangal and coriander roots, and again, smash until paste.
Add the peanuts, shallots, garlic and your powdered cumin & cilantro seeds. Mash until paste. Add the shrimp paste and pound to mix well. Set aside.
Cut your meat cross-grain into thin slices (about 1.5 (4cm) long x 1/2 (1.25cm) tall x 1/8 (.25cm) thick).
Now, on to frying your curry! Heat up your pan first on medium-high heat, then add 1/2 cup of the coconut cream. It should sizzle right away and boil. Add all the paste and mix well.
Fry the paste. You want to keep the paste dry, but not too dry that it sticks and burns. Keep adding a little bit of coconut milk when it gets too dry, maybe about 1/4 cup every minute or two. Keep stirring so it doesnt burn.
Keep adding coconut cream about 1/4 cup at a time, every minute or two. You should start to see a lot of oil coming to the top of the curry. This is normal and a sign that youre doing it right!
Your paste should start to smell really good after 4-5 minutes. Youll start to see a lot of oil rising to the top, especially where its bubbling. When it does, add your meat.
Cook the meat until cooked, add the lime leaves, fish sauce and palm sugar, then keep going about 3-5 minutes so the meat is soft. The consistency of the curry should be similar to the photo. If its too dry, add a bit more of the coconut milk. Remove and serve.
Feel free to garnish with shredded lime leaves and a few leaves of Thai basil. Some fancy restaurants serve it like shown with a bit of thickened coconut cream (thickened with a bit of tapioca flour) which youre welcome to do too!
