LAKSA PASTE

Laksa paste is used in many Thai, Malay and Asian cuisines. Laksa is a popular spicy soup with the combination of noodles and chicken, fish or shrimps with coconut milk and a spoonful of laksa paste is added to flavour it.. This paste can also be used as a rub for grilled meats, chicken or fish. Traditionally this paste is ground in a pestle and mortar but you also may grind it in a food processor. You can grind  a large quantity and store it in a refrigerator. Covered with a layer of oil it should last for a month or even more. Though we get ready to use paste these days a home made version is always a better option.

Ingredients:
Red chillies ... 7-8
Red onion ..... 1
Lemon grass .. 2 stalks (use only white part)
Coriander stalks ... 1/2 cup
Galangal ..... 2 inch piece
Fresh turmeric .... 1 inch piece (if you can't find it use turmeric powder)
Garlic ........... 7-8 cloves
Shrimp paste .. 2 tsps (optional)
Ground coriander ... 1 tsp
Paprika or Kashmiri chilli powder .. 1/2 tsp (to get rich red colour)
Cashew nuts or any nuts ... few
Vinegar or tamarind juice .. 2-3 tbsps.
Salt ........ to taste
Sesame oil or peanut oil ... 5-6 tbsps

Method:
1. Peel galangal, onion, garlic  and fresh turmeric, Cut into small pieces.
2. Wash the chillies and cut them into pieces. If you can't find fresh red chillies then soak the dry ones in hot water for few hours and use instead.
3. Grind all the ingredients to a coarse paste. Traditionally it is ground in a pestle and mortar.
4. Heat oil in a pan and saute the paste.
5. Cool it and store in a sterilized container.
6. Refrigerate it.

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