Green curry paste is packaged and sold in most air-conditioned supermarkets but if you can get a hold of these ingredients you might fancy making it yourself. This way you can make one of the most famous Thai curries using premium ingredients, no additives, no preservatives, and thereby ensure much fresher flavours.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp white peppercorns
- 1-2 green Spur chillies, thinly sliced
- 1-5 (optional) green Bird’s Eye chillies, sliced
- 1 tsp coarse sea salt
- 1 tsp mature galangal, sliced finely chopped
- 2 tsp lemongrass, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Kaffir lime zest, finely chopped
- 1 tsp fresh turmeric, thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp Thai garlic
- 2 Tbsp shallots, finely chopped
- 1 tsp shrimp paste
Directions
- Dry roast (toast without oil or water) coriander seeds and cumin seeds in a pan on a medium low heat. Keep stirring and do not leave it as it will burn very quickly. Just when they start to release their aroma, take off the heat.
- Let cool slightly, then grind the seeds and the white peppercorns to a fine powder in a mortar (or a coffee grinder, then put it in a blender if you don’t use a mortar.)
- Add all the chillies and salt, pound (or blend) them to a fine paste.
- Add all the other ingredients, preferably in the order they are listed in the ingredients above, i.e. starting with galangal which is the hardest herb, and ending with shallot.
- When the mixture becomes a smooth paste add shrimp paste. Grind to combine well.
