Reddit reviews THREE SQUIRRELS Szechuan Whole Dried Chilies, Chinese Dried Red Chili Peppers, Making Hot Chili Oil and Sichuan Chongqing Hotpot, Premium Quality, 4 oz.

Some are saying to use store bought, which is fine. American versions are quite different than Thai versions though. I believe homemade to be the best, personal opinion, because you can adjust things easily and control salt. Plus the aroma is fresh and leave my house smelling like my friends' houses LOL

Below are the hard to find ingredients used in every authentic curry paste video I've come across. If you can't get things locally but use Amazon and are willing to spend a little more than at a local spot, you can find exactly what you need to make good curry paste.
None of these are end all be all brands/sellers, just ones I use regularly or have used. Look for lower prices as needed! Just guiding you on some common hard to find items & substitutes if you don't have a fully stocked Asian grocer nearby.

Dried galangal can be rehydrated and works just as well as fresh. Fresh is best, of course, but is hard to find. Ginger is not a replacement for this not even close. I made a curry paste with ginger once then with galangal...no. Heard you can also use galangal powder, but have never tried that.

Shrimp paste, keeps for a long time in the fridge. If you're not familiar with this stuff...it's gonna smell. (Am I strange for liking it though?) It smells like something you don't want to add in but it does not make adverse flavors in curries, it enhances them and the smell goes away once combined in the paste.

Lemongrass can be found at some commercial stores occasionally. I think you said you can get some locally though.

Prik chi fah (or spur chilis, not as spicy as the next pepper below) hardest to come by but you can use dried guajillo peppers (Spanish pepper) in its place.

Prik kee noo (Thai chilis, very spicy) you can use dried Szechuan peppers or arabol chilies (Spanish pepper). Arabols are a bit less spicy than Thai chilies but the flavor is comparable. The exception here is if you're making green curry, you really need fresh green Thai chilis, not sure jalapeños would work as a replacement, the flavor is too different to me.

Kaffir lime leaves Not for the paste but used to make some of the actual curries, in other dishes, or as edible garnish. The two ounce package is plenty and they freeze very well. Very aromatic and fresh scent, adds something nice to the curry. Can't live without it now.

Sounds like you can get fish sauce, but the depth of flavor really depends on the brand. I use squid fish sauce for curries personally. The flavor is nice and smooth but not overpowering. Tiparos is another brand of fish sauce I use for things like larb, stir fry, & Thai omelettes because it's much stronger in my opinion to the other two, too strong for a curry to me. Darker fish sauce, in my experience tend to be stronger than lighter colored ones.

Cilantro roots are just impossible to find in smaller markets or online from my searches. Cilantro stems work just fine! (If you watch the videos I shared below, she mentions this often. Here to confirm it works perfectly.) I double the amount of stems for roots in recipes though.

Cumin seeds, white pepper, coriander seeds can be found easily online and often in mainstream stores. Palm sugar isn't always necessary if you can't find it, I hate the process of breaking it apart!

I use Pai's recipes all the time, she runs Hot Thai Kitchen on Youtube. Her recipes for curries have all been fantastic, just remember to season properly with fish sauce. If you love Thai food definitely watch her videos I've never had a failure and they taste perfect to what my friends' families cook.
Here are her curry paste recipes, and I've tried every single one several times. Videos using the pastes should appear in the more videos sections:

red curry

green curry

yellow curry

Massaman

Panang

She just did a video about coconut milk if you need help with that. I use the Arroy-D in the can, she said she's never got it to separate but I have so I have no issues with it.

If you have questions, let me know!
Oh, and eat your Thai-style curry with Jasmine rice if you aren't, the aroma of it really enhances everything!

Yeah we figured it wouldn't be the most popular, but it's Thanksgiving week and we just wanted to do a recipe in the spirit of the holiday :)

If you'd rather use thigh, why not? Maybe try 300-400g of thigh meat cut into boneless cubes, and marinate using an egg white marinade: one egg white, 1 tsp liaojiu, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch, and 1 tsp oil to coat. Instead of poaching, give the chicken a stir-fry at first until mostly done... then continue with the recipe as is. No guarantee, but I think that'd be tasty.

As to the chilis... for these recipes I think that if you're in the USA, it's totally ok to sub local chilis so long as it's a similar cultivar, a similar color, dried, and unsmoked. Doing a quick search on Amazon, I found these Erijingtiao chilis and these Chaotianjiao. They're not cheap... so I'd recommend maybe just buying them once so you know the taste, then finding more local options.

Absolutely.

Amazon Link

Smash a ton of those peppercorns with a crap load of peppers like this and toss in some oil and you got yourself the start of a great dish.

I believe these were the peppers I used although I wouldn’t recommend you do the same.

I’ve found these peppers didn’t pack enough heat for my tastes but it may be different for you. I recently bought some Chile Arbol at the supermarket and I assume those should do the trick. You can find similar peppers usually in the spice section at Asian/Chinese supermarkets.

Yes, this is my recipe