BASA GEDE (BALINESE SPICE PASTE)

Basa gede (Balinese spice paste) image

A spice paste with nuts, ginger, turmeric and chillies. Whip it up in 15 minutes, keep in the fridge and bring it out to brighten up curries

Provided by Jack Stein

Time 15m

Yield makes about 150g

Number Of Ingredients 16

Ingredients

¾ tsp black peppercorns
¼ nutmeg , freshly grated
15g candlenuts, macadamia nuts , cashew nuts or roasted peanuts
½ tsp sesame seeds
30g shallots , roughly chopped
15g ginger , peeled and roughly chopped
20g galangal (or extra ginger), peeled and roughly chopped
7g fresh turmeric , peeled, or 1/2 tsp dried turmeric
1 ½ fat lemongrass stalks, hard outer leaves removed, core chopped
3 large garlic cloves
1 medium-hot red chilli , deseeded and roughly chopped
2 red bird's-eye chillies , roughly chopped
½ tsp shrimp paste
1 ½ tsp palm sugar
1 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
juice ¼ lime

Steps:

Grind the peppercorns, nutmeg, nuts and sesame seeds to a fine powder in a spice grinder. Put the mixture in a food processor, add the remaining ingredients with 1 /2 tsp salt and blend to a very smooth paste. Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 30 calories, Fat 2 grams fat, Carbohydrate 1 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 1 grams sugar, Protein 1 grams protein, Sodium 0.3 milligram of sodium