Name: Green Curry Paste
Yield: Makes ¾ cup pounded, slightly more if blended
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 6 small Thai bird chilies, green; ½ tsp. White peppercorns; ½ tsp. Kosher salt; 2 tsp. Coriander seeds; 1 tsp. Cumin seeds; 2 stalks Lemongrass, trimmed and sliced very thin, about 1/16 inch (.1 cm.); ¼ tsp. Ground turmeric; 3 Long green chilies, chopped (½ cup chopped) or other hot green chili; 3 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped; 3 small Shallots, roughly chopped; 2 tsp. Kaffir lime zest or 4 tsp. shredded kaffir lime leaves; 1 tsp. Minced cilantro root or 1 Tbsp. minced cilantro stems; 1 tsp. Thai shrimp (gkapi), toasted; 1 Tbsp. Finely grated galangal

Preparation info

Makes
¾ cup
pounded, slightly more if blended

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Southeast Asian Flavors

By Robert Danhi

Published 2008

About

This spice paste, verdant from fresh green chilies, is one of the fundamental building blocks of Thai cookery. Kobkaew Naipinij, of the Suan Dusit University in Bangkok, is one of the most respected Thai culinary experts in the world. She took me and my former student Adam Newman (now chef) under her wing during an intensive Thai curries class there, and intimated to us that one traditional way she attains a deeper green color was to add leaves from the chili plant to the paste. Double the