Peanut Sauce

• 3 small dried red chiles, stemmed and seeded, or cayenne or hot red pepper flakes to taste
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 shallots, peeled
• 1 lemongrass stalk, white part only (page 143), thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon peanut or neutral oil, like corn or grapeseed
• 1 cup coconut milk, homemade (page 584) or canned
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons nam pla
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts or crunchy peanut butter

1. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a food processor and grind until fairly smooth; scrape down the sides of the machine once or twice if necessary.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and saute the chile-garlic mixture until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until smooth.
4. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.
5. This may be stored, covered and refrigerated, for up to a week; gently rewarm over very low heat or in a microwave before using.
6. Simpler and leaner, this is a good last-minute addition to stir-fries: omit the lemongrass, turmeric, coconut milk, and lime juice; substitute soy sauce for the nam pla.

red chiles, garlic, shallots, stalk, ground turmeric, peanut, coconut milk, palm sugar, lime juice, salt, peanuts

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/peanut-sauce-385991 (may not work)