Do you add water to curry paste?

In this brief guide, we will answer the question “Do you add water to curry paste?”, tell you what curry paste is, and mention a few ways to use curry paste.

Do you add water to curry paste?

Yes, you can add water to curry paste. In fact, a lot of recipes ask you to add water to curry paste.

Water can be added to make the curry thinner. While many people use coconut milk, if you want to bring down the calories or if you do not have coconut milk, just add water. Sometimes, people also use chicken stock for added flavor.

In addition, Indian curries often use yogurt for the base sauce.

It may also be helpful in dialing down some spice level and making the curry more mild.

Another way is to fry the curry paste with water added in it on a pan with a dash of oil. This will help burst out the flavors in the curry paste and make the curry more flavorful.

What is curry paste?

Curry paste, like curry powder, is a blend of different aromatic and flavorful spices mixed together. Except that in curry paste, oil is usually added to give it a paste-like consistency. You can find it at any grocery store near you.

The ingredients used to make curry paste are cumin, coriander, turmeric, chili powder, ginger garlic, lemongrass, and some chilies.

Now the type and amount of chili peppers used give the curry paste its distinct color and flavor.

For example, in Thai cuisine, there are mainly three types of curry pastes. They are green, yellow, and red. The green thai curry paste has green chili peppers in abundance which give it the green color and spiciness. Yellow thai curry paste mainly has turmeric added to it so it has a very distinct and mild flavor.

On the other hand, red thai curry paste is the most spiciest because it has a lot of red chili peppers. Sometimes even paprika and cayenne pepper are added to it. This is why red curry paste appears super bright red.

The other ingredients are more or less the same. But they all have a very distinct flavor.

Find out more about curry pastes here.

Where can I use curry paste?

Curries

Well, of course the most common use of curry paste is to make curry. Just fry a little bit of curry paste in a pan with some oil to pop out the flavors. Then add your desired meat and vegetables. Add coconut milk, stock, or water to thin out the consistency of the curry.

Soup

Yes, you read that right. You can use curry paste to make soup. You can add cream or coconut milk to make cream based soups. The milk or cream adds smoothness and richness to the curry paste.

Pasta

You can use curry paste to make pasta sauce. Pick whichever type of thai curry you like best and just add cream to it. Let it simmer for a while then pour it over spaghetti or any type of paste that you prefer. You can also add vegetables and protein according to you liking.

Salad dressing

If you are bored of eating the same bland salad everyday, try making a salad dressing of curry paste to give it a kick. Add curry paste in yogurt or mayonnaise and give a little stir until fully combined. Then pour it over your salad.

Marinate

Use curry paste as a marinade for chicken. Add curry paste in some curry paste, then add your chicken to it. Coat all the chicken evenly and leave it in the fridge overnight. 

Seafood

Curry paste adds a bunch of flavor to seafood. Either marinate the seafood in it or use it to make the sauce served with seafood. It goes well with salmon.

Make a sauce

Well it might sound unconventional but you can add a spoonful of curry paste to mayonnaise and use it as a dip or in your sandwiches. You can also use it to top nachos or tacos.

Other FAQs about Curry that you may be interested in.

How long can you freeze cooked chicken curry?

How hot is yellow curry paste?

How healthy is curry?

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we answered the question “Do you add water to curry paste?”, told you what curry paste is, and mentioned a few ways to use curry paste.

Citations

https://www.thekitchn.com/5-ways-to-use-thai-curry-paste-223576

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