In the fall of 2019 I was in Chippewa Falls, WI with a young coworker. We arrived early for out meeting and decided to get lunch. We found a Thai take-out place that looked busy and went in. We both ordered Pad Thai but I asked if I could have just a little of their green curry to taste. I hadn’t had green curry for years. I used to get it when I worked in Ottawa. That started a craving.
In December of that year I got the OG Covid before it was cool and everyone started doing it. It kicked my ass and I ended up very sick for three months. In the spring of 2020 I had a doctor’s appointment and resolved to get a few orders of green curry from a Thai take-out place to take home. When my appointment ended all of the Thai restaurants were closed for the afternoon so I went home empty handed and whined on Facebook.
My daughter’s best friend was headed to Ottawa to have lunch with friends and offered to bring my green curry. She did, it was delicious, and that started something.
We decided that we needed to make green curry at home. I looked at several recipes and made up a shopping list. I went to my favorite Asian grocery store and went to the cash. The owner of the store, a lovely Thai woman that I had known for years, looked at my items and said, “Green curry?” I said, “Yes.” She said, “You forgot the galangal.” She was right.
We set about making our first small batch of green curry paste. My daughter’s friend came over and we cooked together while my wife played with her daughter.
Since then our batches have gotten better and bigger.
Click the pictures.
This is what the ingredients for a batch look like now.
A large batch gets an entire bag of Thai chilis.
I toast the spice mix in a pan before grinding it in a spice grinder.
Everything gets chopped up and goes into the blender.
This is the result. Homemade Thai green curry paste.
And this is how my wife lets me know that I’m cooking and that Thai green curry is on the menu. A pair of chicken breasts and a brick of frozen green curry paste.
The toughest part of making this recipe is sourcing the ingredients. If you find a good Thai or Asian grocery store they will have everything you need.
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Wow that looks delicious; thank you for the story and the recipe. I’ve only ever done dry (ish) curries, but you’ve inspired me to try a paste.
Curry powders are awesome and I use several but there is nothing like the taste of a fresh curry. The predominant volatiles in green curry are the Thai (formerly Kafir) lime leaves and limes. My wife has a Thai lime tree in the living room. If you break off a leaf, fold it, and smell it you immediately remember green curry. You can’t get all those fresh flavors from dry curry. I definitely recommend trying it. I looked at three recipes and averaged their ingredients. I would definitely punch up the lime leaves and include juice and zest of the limes.
Looks delicious!
Thanks! I love green curry. My wife had never tasted it because she’s deathly allergic to anything that comes out of the water and most Thai food includes fish sauce. I substituted soya sauce for the saltiness of the fish sauce and added some mushroom based oyster sauce for the umami and she loved it. Now it’s one of her favorites. She likes to add green beans and I love sweet, fresh carrots from the garden.
Looks amazing!
However, you’ll get a lot more flavor out of your spices using a mortar and pestle. Beat those spices and greens into a paste!You’re probably right. I don’t have a mortar and pestle that big so I’m reduced to using the spice grinder and blender. I should try making a small batch that way and see if it’s worth investing in a large set.
