One of our favorite cuisines is Thai food and in particular coconut milk based green and red curry. I’ve made this dish in the past with store bought Thai green curry paste but it seemed to lack freshness. So I decided to try making homemade Thai green curry paste, using ingredients from multiple recipes. I can definitely say that we will never go back to store bought paste. Enjoy! Thanks to Andi Myers for the featured pic.

Green Curry Paste

Ingredients

3-4 jalapeños, chopped

2-3 small green chili, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper

Pinch of salt

2 tsp black pepper

1-inch long piece galangal, thinly sliced

1-inch piece of ginger

1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised and thinly sliced

5 kaffir lime leaves

1 tablespoon lime zest

1 cup of cilantro

1 cup of thai basil

8 medium cloves garlic, peeled

1 red onion, quartered

1 tablespoon of thai shrimp paste

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of water

Directions

Add the ingredients to a small food processor and pulse and mix until smooth paste.

Thai Green Curry

Ingredients

1/2 can coconut cream

2 1/2 cups of freshly made green curry paste

2 pounds thinly sliced boneless chicken breast, sliced into 1-inch pieces, longitudinal

1 can coconut milk

2 cups baby eggplant or thai eggplant, cut in half

1 cup Thai basil leaves, whole

1 cup fresh cilantro

2 long Thai chili, sliced thinly crosswise, 1 red, 1 green.

4 kaffir lime leaves, or regular lime leaves

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 red bell pepper, julienned

1 red green pepper, julienned

1 can bamboo shoots, sliced strips

Directions

In a medium-size wok on medium-high heat, heat the coconut cream. Add the green curry paste and cook carefully just until fragrant and thickens, usually 2-3 minutes.

Blanch chicken pieces using a colander into boiling water and then transfer it to the green curry. Stir the chicken into the thickened curry for 2-3 minutes then pour in the coconut milk and bring to a boil.

Lower the heat to medium and add the eggplant, bell peppers, bamboo shoots.  Simmer until the chicken and eggplant are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add brown sugar, lime leaves, thai chili, fish sauce

Remove from heat and add the Thai basil and cilantro.

Serve hot over basmati rice.