Thai green curry paste

 
 

Do you like a Thai green curry? Do you normally buy your paste in a jar? Are you a curry paste virgin?

If you're a yes to all three, prepare to have your mind blown. A Thai green curry paste is the perfect example of something that tastes A THOUSAND times better when we make it ourselves using bright, fresh ingredients. You simply can’t compare. So vibrant, so fresh tasting, so zingy and delicious.

And if you think it’s a huge amount of effort and takes ages to prepare, you’re wrong.. it takes no Thaim at all 😬

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic

2 shallots

1 small piece of galangal or ginger (thumb size)

2 stalks fresh lemongrass

3 green chillies

1 lime

6 kaffir lime leaves

Large bunch of coriander

1 tspn ground cumin

1 tbspn fish sauce

Method

We’re using a food processor, so you don’t need to worry about finely chopping everything… just roughly chopping into chunks so that the processor doesn’t find it too much work is fine. The lime leaves and the lemon grass - which are both a bit tough - are the only ingredients that need breaking down a bit more before blending.

Add the following into the food processor:

  • Garlic - peeled and crushed

  • Shallots - peeled and chopped into chunks

  • Ginger - peeled and chopped into chunks

  • Chillies - remove seeds and stalks

  • Coriander - including stalks

  • Lime leaves - cut into thin strips

  • Lemon grass - remove the outer-most skin layer, give the stalks a bash with the base of a knife before chopping into strands

  • Lime - zest and juice

  • Cumin

Blitz for around a minute, carefully shaking the processor (if yours is anything like mine and needs a bit of encouragement to blend everything!).

Add the fish sauce, give it a good mix and blitz for another 30-60 seconds, until everything is combined to a paste.

Reserve in the fridge, covered.

TIPS

  • Peeling ginger is always a faff. I find the easiest way is with an ordinary, small spoon, scraping around the whole piece until all the skin has flaked off.

  • If peeling ginger isn’t for you, you could always opt for ready-to-go ginger paste.

  • If you like it HOT, simply add more fresh green chillies.

  • To make it veggie/vegan, substitute the fish sauce for a splash of light soy sauce.