How To Make Curry Paste

Want to learn how to make curry paste? Curry is a popular food all over the world, and different cultures include different ingredients in their curry pastes, although the main components are usually ginger, garlic and chili peppers. This recipe is for Thai green curry paste, which is flavored with limes, cilantro and fish sauce, a common ingredient in Thai cooking.

To make curry paste, you will need:

• two shallots
• two garlic cloves
• two-inch piece of fresh ginger
• one-inch piece galangal
• four to six medium green chillies
• one small bunch of cilantro (fresh coriander)
• one lime
• two lemongrass stalks or two teaspoons dried lemongrass
• eight kaffir lime leaves or the zest of one lime
• one tablespoon coriander seeds
• one teaspoon black peppercorns
• one teaspoon ground cumin
• two tablespoons Thai fish sauce
• three tablespoons olive oil
• knife
• cutting board
• grater
• juicer
• food processor

Steps

1. Peel and roughly chop the shallots, garlic, ginger and galangal.
2. Remove the seeds from the chili and roughly chop them.
3. Grate the zest from the lime, being careful to avoid the white pith. Cut the lime in half and juice it.
4. Chop the lemongrass stalks and tear the kaffir lime leaves into pieces.
5. Crush the coriander seeds and black peppercorns.
6. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until it becomes curry paste.
7. Store in the refrigerator, in a tightly sealed container, for up to three weeks.

Tips: Galangal looks similar to ginger, but has a woody texture and a citrus-y taste. Omit it from your curry paste if you can't find any, but you may be able to locate some in the frozen section of an Asian grocery store. Fish sauce is made from fermented fish and has a very distinct flavor. If you can't find fish sauce, substitute either two tablespoons soy sauce or two tablespoons soy sauce mixed with two minced anchovy fillets. To make curry with your green curry paste, fry two tablespoons curry paste with one tablespoon oil. Add two cans coconut milk, one sliced chicken breast, a handful of Thai eggplant, and extra seasonings (such as chilis, fish sauce and kaffir lime leaves) to taste. Serve over jasmine rice.