Make your own authentic Thai Green Curry Paste at home from scratch! Investing just a few minutes of prep time will yield you enough curry paste to make multiple green curry dishes throughout the week!
Curries are an essential part of Thai cuisine and I personally love the bright and fresh flavors of Green curry.
Thai Green Curry gets its bright green color from fresh Thai green chilies and its classic Thai flavors from ingredients like lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.
Making your own Green Curry Paste at home is so easy and takes just a few minutes of prep time. You will get enough curry paste for several green curry dishes any day of the week! I've shared some tips below on how to store your leftover curry paste.
Simply add coconut milk, your favorite protein and veggies, a splash of fish sauce, a few other simple ingredients, and you have your very own Thai Green Curry. Of course, you will want to top it with fresh Thai basil and serve it over steamed jasmine rice. Excellent comfort food.
What type of green chili to use for green curry paste
Since the green chili is the star ingredient of your green curry paste, you will want to ensure that you are using the right kind of chili.
Thai green chili is basically the young, unripened version of the red chili. This unripened flavor of the chili is what gives green curry its very fresh, vibrant and floral taste.
I recommend using fresh green chili such as serrano or jalapeno to make Thai Green Curry Paste. Green Thai bird chili is quite commonly used for Green Curry but it can be super spicy so be careful when using those.
You should not use green bell pepper for this recipe as it will give you a very different flavor profile.
How to Make Homemade Green Curry Paste
Traditionally, a mortar and pestle are used to grind and blend all of these ingredients to a paste. As you can imagine, it takes a very long time and lots of elbow grease, but may be worth the effort for authentic texture and flavor.
Using a food processor or blender is a fantastic alternative and saves so much time and effort. Even modern Thai kitchens are using these appliances for convenience.
If you like a smooth consistency, using a blender will give you a much smoother paste as opposed to using a food processor.
Place the following ingredients into a food processor or a blender:
- ¼ lb (6 - 8 large) fresh green chilies, cut into approximately ½-inch pieces, seeds removed
- 3 stalks lemongrass (only the white portion, thinly sliced)
- 1 inch galangal, grated (or substitute with equal amount of ginger if you don't have access to galangal)
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3 small shallots, peeled
- 5 stalks fresh cilantro
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, julienned
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons white peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste (optional but recommended)
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- Have about 1 cup of water prepared, but don't add it to the food processor or blender yet
Tip: Lightly toast the coriander seeds and white peppercorn to amp up those flavors!
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Pulse it a few times, then slowly stream about a tablespoon of water at a time into the blender or food processor to blend the ingredients to a paste. I typically use between ½ cup to ¾ cup of water for each batch.
The main purpose of the water is to help the blender or food processor blend the ingredients. As soon as the curry paste is blended evenly, stop adding water.
This Green Curry Paste recipe yields approximately 1 cup.
Storing Thai Green Curry Paste
Your homemade Green Curry Paste will keep in the fridge for about one week, or in the freezer for about 6 months.
I recommend freezing your curry paste in ice cube trays. Ice cube trays with lids are really handy for this purpose. You can stack them on top of one another easily.
Most Thai curry recipes typically call for about 2 - 3 tablespoons of curry paste, so pour about 1 tablespoon of curry paste into each section in the ice cube tray. You'll be able to easily take exactly how much you need for each recipe you prepare.
1 cup = 16 tablespoons, so you will get about 16 individual frozen Green Curry Paste cubes per batch.
Store these cubes in the ice cube trays (with the lids on), or to save space, place the frozen curry paste cubes into a Ziploc bag.
To defrost the frozen curry paste cubes, simply place them in a small bowl to thaw at room temperature, or melt them in the microwave for about a minute.
Other Thai Curry Paste Recipes:
Green Curry Recipes to Try:
Try these Thai Green Curry recipes with your new homemade paste!
- Green Curry with Chicken
- Green Curry Roast Chicken by The Flavor Bender
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Thai Green Curry Butter by From a Chef's Kitchen
- Green Curry Shrimp by Diabetes Strong
Thai Green Curry Paste
Ingredients
- ¼ lb fresh green chilies cut into ½ inch pieces, seeds removed
- [3 stalks lemongrass white portion only, sliced]
- 1 inch galangal grated (substitute: ginger)
- 5 cloves garlic peeled
- 3 small shallots peeled
- 5 stalks cilantro
- 3 kaffir lime leaves julienned
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons white peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste optional but recommended
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Place green chilies, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, cilantro, kaffir lime leaves, coriander seeds, ground cumin, white peppercorns, salt, lime juice and shrimp paste (if using) in a food processor.
- Pulse it a few times, then slowly drizzle the water to blend the ingredients to a paste (as soon as the ingredients are evenly blended, stop adding the water).
[…] Thai Red Curry gets its color and flavors from dried red chili, while the star ingredient in Thai Green Curry is green chili that gives it a very fresh, floral […]