Thai Green Curry Paste

Thai food is the best, who doesn't love it? Tucker and I went on our honeymoon to Thailand and of course we had to take a cooking class there! We learned how to make a delicious green curry with chicken. Unforunately, bringing the recipe back home proved tricky. We have mastered the curry paste (which is delicious), but are still working on refining the overall chicken curry recipe. We will hopefully be able to share than soon, but in the meantime, here is the excellent recipe for the green curry paste! Use it in your favorite curry recipe (like this one, or this one) instead of using one from a jar.

Thai Green Curry Paste

Adapted From Zazen Restaurant's Cooking Class

Ingredients

8 small fresh green got chillies (little Thai chillies)

1 large fresh green chili (called prik shi fa kiew)

1 tbsp. chopped shallots

1 tsp. chopped garlic

1 tbsp. chopped lemon grass

1 tsp. chopped galangal (thai ginger)

1/2 tsp. chopped kaffir lime peel or leaves (we couldn't find this back home, so we substituted for regular lime)

1 tsp. chopped coriander root or stem (we couldn't find this back home, so we left it out)

1/2 tsp. coriander seeds

1/2 tsp. anise seeds

1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

1/2 tsp. shrimp paste

1/8 tsp. salt

Instructions:

• In a small wok or pan saute the coriander seeds, anise, cumin seeds, and black pepper until fragrant and put them in a mortar and pestle with the salt and grind to a fine powder.
• Add chillies and grind again until it is smooth paste. Add the garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, garlic, galangal, and lemon grass and grind again into a smooth paste. Add the lime juice at the very end.

NOTE: if you are making a larger quantity of curry paste to keep, after grinding saute the paste in soy bean oil over a low heat, stirring constantly for 15 minutes. Let cool. Will keep in a jar in freezer or fridge for several months.