How Do You Turn Curry Powder Into Paste?

In this brief guide, we will answer the question “How do you turn curry powder into paste?”, discuss the differences between curry paste and curry powder, and list down uses for curry paste.

How do you turn curry powder into paste?

In order to turn curry powder into paste, you will need:

Diced onions
Garlic cloves
Water
Blender
Curry powder

Put water, garlic cloves, and onions in a blender and blend well. Once it has blended, add curry powder and blend again. Keep blending until everything comes together. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the blender as you do not want any unblended portions.

Once it is done, transfer to an airtight jar and store it in the refrigerator for use when required.

Ideally, curry powder and curry paste should not be used interchangeably because they both belong to different cuisines and have different flavor profiles.

What is the difference between curry paste and curry powder?

One main obvious difference between curry paste and curry powder is that curry paste is wet with ingredients such as ground chili peppers and oil while curry powder is a dry blend of whole or ground spices.

Curry paste belongs to Thai cuisine. Thai curry paste consists of red, yellow, and green curry pastes. Each one of these have a distinct flavor and get their names from their color.

For example the main ingredients in red curry paste are red chillies and paprika. The main ingredient in green curry paste are green chillies. Similarly, yellow curry paste has turmeric as its main ingredient.

These three pastes range from mild to spicy, with red being the most spicy and yellow being the mildest.

On the other hand, curry powders are a part of Indian cuisine. They are used to make Indian style dishes. There is a significant difference between Thai and Indian cuisines.

Curry pastes tend to be more spicy as they use whole chili peppers. Curry powders are not as spicy as curry pastes because they use ground spices so they tend to be a little mild.

Curry paste is made with a wet ingredient like oil or water. Curry powders are dry. Curry paste can be fried before cooking the dish because it already has oil while curry powder can not be fried on its own as it will burn.

How to use Thai curry paste?

You can use Thai curry paste for a bunch of dishes. Most common dish made with Thai curry paste is of course curry, as the name suggests.

In order to use Thai curry paste, it needs to be cooked first before adding other ingredients. Curry paste is a blend of raw aromatic spices mixed together with vegetable oil. In order for them to make a flavorful curry, they need to be cooked beforehand. If you eat raw curry paste, it may taste bad.

Fry the curry paste with a dash of oil in a pan before adding meat and vegetables. Or just simmer the curry paste in water or stock for a while before adding other ingredients. This ensures that the spices burst out their flavor.

In addition, you never know where the raw spices have been while they are being processed. They might as well contain some bacterial spores which need to be killed by heating them.

Some people also suggest microwaving the curry paste as it is over rice for example. If this works for you, go ahead.

Our suggestion is to properly cook the paste before you go ahead with adding other ingredients to it for best results.

Learn more about the uses of curry paste here.

How do I store curry paste for a long time?

Curry paste can last up to 4 months when stored properly. In a refrigerator it will only last for up to a week. After that, it will start to lose its freshness and taste.

In order to store curry paste for a long time, freeze it. Measure out small amounts of curry paste required to make your favorite recipe and freeze them. Either use an ice cube tray for this purpose or a sheet pan. This way you only have to take out one serving at a time rather than thawing the whole curry paste at once.