Thai red curry paste

Step 1: Put 15 dried long red chillies in a bowl, cover with 2 cups hot water and leave until floppy and soft right through, about 20 minutes. Drain, squeeze out as much water as you can and chop finely.

Step 2: While they soak, toast 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp cumin seeds and ½ tsp white peppercorns in a dry pan over a medium-low heat, shaking, until the coriander smells nutty and darkens a shade, 2–3 minutes. Grind to a fine powder in a mortar or spice grinder and tip out.

Step 3: Pound the chopped chillies with 1 tsp coarse sea salt in a heavy mortar until they break down into a rough red mash with no whole skins, about 5 minutes. The salt acts as grit.

Step 4: Add 3 lemongrass and pound until fibrous threads disappear, then add ⅔ oz galangal and pound again. Work through the hardest ingredients first so they break down fully.

Step 5: Add 1 tsp kaffir lime zest and 4 coriander roots and pound until the paste looks even and slightly glossy.

Step 6: Add 4 Thai shallots and 8 cloves garlic a little at a time and pound until they melt into the paste, which will turn wetter and smoother.

Step 7: Stir in the ground spices and pound for another minute to bind everything.

Step 8: Finally pound in 1 tbsp yellow soybean paste. The finished paste should hold its shape on a spoon and smell sharp and fragrant, not raw-oniony. A blender works too: add 2 tbsp neutral oil and scrape down often, but expect a slightly less fragrant paste.

Step 9: Pack into a clean jar, press cling film on the surface and keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze in tablespoon portions for 3 months. Use 2–3 tablespoons for a curry for four.