High-Walled Pot for Cooking – Curry can be easily made in any pot with tall sides. A Dutch oven , wok , or saute pan will work well. For each type of paste, there’s a basic expectation of what it should taste like; but like any recipe, everyone has their own specific formula, hence all these brands.

One thing we have to reiterate with this recipe is that we have developed it around the Mae Ploy brand of curry pastes. These appear to be the common brand sold in virtually every Asian grocery store we've been to, and you can get a huge tub for just a few dollars- you really won't go wanting for curry paste for a while with these. If you don’t want to make the paste yourself (let’s be honest, if you’re pressed for time – who does?), then the paste you use will make or break your curry.

Thai curry pastes are basically a mix of ground fresh herbs and spices. The most common curry paste ingredients are: chiles, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, cilantro root (coriander root), kaffir lime zest, white peppercorns. Shrimp paste is always added to curry paste in Thailand, though many exported brands omit this to make it vegan and allergy friendly.

There are a large variety of brands out there, and it’s impossible for me to taste test them all, so I had to narrow it down to a manageable number and here’s how I made the choice. Squash– The naturally sweet flavor of squash is a great fit for Thai Red Curry. You can use any type of squash here – kabocha, acorn, or butternut. Look for fresh, pre-cubed butternut squash to save time.Thai Kitchen I would use only if this were my only choice. I would also add more chilies, more shrimp paste, and would use a LOT of it, like...the whole jar for a 4-serving curry (which makes it also the most expensive one in this lineup). If I'm cooking for kids or people who cannot handle any spiciness at all, then Thai Kitchen would be a safe choice. What About Other Kinds of Curry Paste?

So, to help you, we will introduce you to some of the best curry paste that you can easily avail on the market. Though there are myriads of curry pastes out there, allow us to offer you some details so that you will end with the best one and don’t make mistakes.

Next start pounding everything

We usually have an Indian or a Thai (creatures of habit!) – now this recipe has been added to the repertoire there’s no chance of that changing any time soon. What’s the best Thai Red Curry Paste? Green Thai curry is considered to be the spiciest - as green chillies (of the same variety) are usually hotter and sharper than red chillies. If you want to learn more about curry pastes, I highly suggest watching my curry paste 101 video where I go more in depth into what it is, and how to use, store, etc. Also, to explore other ways to use curry paste, here are 5 ways to use curry paste beside making a curry. But what is a Thai curry paste anyway? The main takeaway is that there is a huge range between brands of store-bought curry paste. When following recipes, unless you copy the brand that was used by the recipe writer, you cannot assume that you will get a result that is even close to what they got. So you have to use your judgment and be prepared to adjust as needed, (which is something you should do whenever you cook anything anyway.)