thai chilis paste recipe/nam prik pao

thai chilis paste(sauce) recipe/nam prik pao. thai food ingredients link. 

Ingredients:

• 13 large red Thai chilis, seperated (10 will be roasted, 3 will be used raw)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1/2 large onion (peeled and cut into quarters)
• 2 large dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup tamarind paste (available in the international section of many grocery stores or any Asian market if you cannot find this, you can omit this ingredient altogether as the vinegar below will still impart a different, but still delicious paste)
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar.

how to:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice 10 of the red chilis in half and place them face down on a baking sheet. Place garlic cloves and onion on the baking sheet, insuring that none of the vegetables are overlapping. Bake, without stirring, until chilis begin to blacken in spots, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature

2. Cut the 3 remaining chilis in half lengthwise. Gently remove the seeds and membranes from both the roasted and raw chilies (see note below). Gently squeeze the garlic cloves to extract the roasted garlic, and discard the peels.

3. ut garlic, chilis, onions and mushrooms in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is finely and evenly chopped. (It will be nearly smooth and ground to a paste in some spots.)

4. Place the chopped vegetables, sugar, water, tamarind paste and vinegar in a small pot over medium heat. If the mixture appears quite dry, add a splash more water so that it can easily come to a simmer.

5. Simmer, stirring frequently (reduce the heat if it begins to boil), until the mixture becomes smooth and thick, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

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