Green Curry Paste Recipe
Homemade green curry paste is incomparable to the store-bought one! It has the most incredible aroma and bold signature flavors. It's a key ingredient in many authentic Thai recipes and features key ingredients like Thai chili peppers, Thai basil, galangal root, lemongrass, lime, garlic, scallions, cilantro, shrimp paste, coriander, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Servings: 4 (makes about 1.5 cups)
Calories: 120kcal
Ingredients
- 4-6 green Thai chili peppers add a couple more if you want spicier
- 1 poblano pepper*
- 1 inch galangal root
- 3 limes - zest only
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves
- 2 shallots
- 3 lemongrass stalks, white only
- 3 scallion stalks
- 5-6 cilantro stems
- 1 tsp shrimp paste**
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 tsp white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Tip for working with spicy peppers: Always remember to wear gloves when working with spicy peppers, and don’t touch yourself or anyone else!
- Chop ingredients as much as you can and place them into a blender. Make sure your blender is powerful or it will have a hard time making smooth paste.
- Pulse to blend all the ingredients until smooth paste forms. Scrape sides and bottom of the blender when needed. (You may need to start and stop a few times to mix ingredients.)
Storing:
- Store the curry paste in an air-tight glass container with a lid, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Freezing:
- You can also freeze it to keep for several months! I love to make a double batch and portion it out into about 1/3-1/2 cup servings and freeze it. Make sure to freezer it in air-tight freezer bags or containers. To thaw, do it slowly in the refrigerator.
Notes
*Adjusting spice level:
If you like it hot and spicy, stay within the spicy pepper range. Of course, you have to have the Thai chili peppers, but you can also add in serrano peppers or mild Thai long chili peppers.
To make it milder, use fewer Thai chili peppers (stay in the 3-4 range for mild and go up to 8 for medium spice), and use milder additional peppers, like poblano, jalapeño, or other milder chili peppers of your region.
Another way to make this paste milder is to remove the seeds and white membrane from the peppers.
Shellfish allergy - if you have shellfish allergies, simply omit this ingredient.
Nutrition
Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 343mg | Potassium: 269mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 596IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 2mg