Green Curry Paste

This past weekend I was thinking about Asian cooking and realized it has been over ten years since I have prepared a scratch Thai curry paste. So, today I decided to make a versatile green curry paste to use in number of great Thai dishes.

Here's the recipe from The Elegant of Thailand by Pinyo Srisawat & Sisamon Kongpon :

INGREDIENTS:

15 green hot chillies (couldn't find what I needed, so I used 3 Anaheim and 3 Serranos)

3tbsp chopped shallots

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 tsp chopped galangal

1 tbsp chopped lemon grass

1/2 tsp chopped kaffir lime rind (I used regular lime rind)

1 tsp chopped coriander root (I left this out, as I have never been able to find it in any markets)

5 black pepper corns

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp salt

1 tsp shrimp paste

PREPARATION:

• Heat a wok or small pan over low heat, toast the coriander and cumin seeds for about 5 minutes (do not burn them), let cool and then grind them into a powder (I used a mortar and pestle, but a blade coffee grinder will work as well).




• Add the rest of the ingredients, except for shrimp paste, into a blender of small food processor and blend until mixed well. Then add the coriander and cumin powder and shrimp paste and continue to blend until a fine-textured paste is achieved. (Should yield 1/2 - 3/4 cup).

• Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator (can be kept for 3 - 4 months).

This paste can be used in a number of Thai style curry dishes. One thing to keep in mind is to not add too much at once - it can be very hot, depending on the chillies you use.