Curry paste is a moist blend of ground or pounded herbs and/or spices and other seasonings. Curry paste is an important ingredient in Thai cuisine, and can also be a generic commercial product that replaces curry powders or spice blends in other cuisines.

Varieties

There are many types of Thai curries and curry pastes. The following are well known outside of Thailand:

• Red curry
  Red curry
  Red curry is a popular Thai dish consisting of curry paste to which coconut milk is added. The base is properly made with a mortar and pestle, and remains moist throughout the preparation process. The main ingredients are garlic, shallots, red chili peppers, galangal, shrimp paste, salt, kaffir...
  
   paste: This curry paste includes red chili pepper
  Chili pepper
  Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
  
  s (fresh or dried), shallot
  Shallot
  The shallot is the botanical variety of Allium cepa to which the multiplier onion also belongs. It was formerly classified as the species A. ascalonicum, a name now considered a synonym of the correct name...
  
  s, garlic
  Garlic
  Allium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion genus, Allium. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo. Dating back over 6,000 years, garlic is native to central Asia, and has long been a staple in the Mediterranean region, as well as a frequent...
  
  , galangal
  Galangal
  Galangal is a rhizome of plants of the genus Alpinia or Kaempferia in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originated from Indonesia...
  
  , lemon grass, coriander
  Coriander
  Coriander is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Coriander is native to southern Europe and North Africa to southwestern Asia. It is a soft, hairless plant growing to tall. The leaves are variable in shape, broadly lobed at the base of the plant, and slender and feathery higher on the...
  
   roots, peppercorn
  Peppercorn
  The original meaning of peppercorn is the fruit of black pepper.It may also refer to:* Peppercorn , a very small payment used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contractOther plants:*Peppercorn tree*Sichuan peppercorn...
  
  s, salt, shrimp paste
  Shrimp paste
  Shrimp paste or shrimp sauce, is a common ingredient used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It is known as terasi in Indonesian, ngapi in Burmese, kapi in Thai, Khmer and Lao language, belacan in Malay, mắm ruốc, mắm tép and mắm tôm in...
  
   and kaffir lime
  Kaffir lime
  The kaffir lime, Citrus × hystrix, Rutaceae), is also known as combava, kieffer lime, limau purut, jeruk purut or makrut lime,...
  
   leaf.
• Green curry
  Green curry
  Green curry is a variety of curry in Thai cuisine. The name "green" curry derives from the color of the dish. Other Thai curry dishes are identified solely by their colors, such as yellow and red curry. Green curries tend to be as hot as red curries, both being hotter than phanang/padang curries...
  
   paste: The ingredients are similar to those for red curry paste, except green chilies are often used in place of red.
• Yellow curry
  Yellow curry
  Yellow curry is one of three major kinds of Thai curry, commonly found in Thai restaurants in the West. There are many more types in Thailand, several of which are yellow...
  
   paste: It is also similar to both red and green curry pastes, but it is made with turmeric
  Turmeric
  Turmeric is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive...
  
  , which gives it its yellow colour, and occasionally yellow chili peppers.
• Massaman curry
  Massaman curry
  Massaman curry is a southern Thai dish that is Muslim in origin. It is most commonly made with beef, but can also be made with duck, tofu, chicken, or pork ....
  
   paste: It is an Indian influenced curry, and unlike other Thai curries it contains many ground dry spices as ingredients, including cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
• Phanaeng curry
  Phanaeng curry
  Phanaeng curry, or penang curry, is a type of Thai curry that is milder than other Thai curries. It traditionally includes dried chili peppers, galangal, lemongrass, coriander root, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, garlic, and salt, and sometimes also shallots, peanuts, and shrimp paste...
  
  paste: This paste is generally more mild than the other types of Thai curry.