Recipes

Thai Green Curry Paste

Prik Kaeng Kiew

A fresh green chili curry paste built on kaffir lime, lemongrass, and toasted cumin

Prep

30 min

Cook

5 min

Serves

4

Heat

hot

Green curry paste gets its vivid color from a blend of two fresh green chilies, a very hot small variety balanced against a milder long chili so the heat stays intense without becoming unbearable. Unlike red or yellow curry pastes, almost nothing here is dried or roasted except the cumin and coriander seed, which is exactly why a homemade batch turns out a much brighter, truer green than the often brownish packaged versions found in stores. Kaffir lime rind, worked in alongside lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and shallot, rounds out a paste meant to taste properly spicy and salty at full strength, built to carry green curry's characteristic punch.

Ingredients

• 8-10 Thai hot chilies (green, sliced into small pieces)
• 3-4 Thai long chilies (green, sliced into small pieces)
• 1 Kaffir lime rind (grated, about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 tablespoons Red shallots (peeled, sliced thin)
• 2 tablespoons Garlic (peeled and chopped)
• 2 tablespoons Galangal root (chopped fine)
• 2 tablespoons Lemongrass (bottom portion, sliced very thin)
• 1 tablespoon Coriander root (chopped into very small pieces)
• 1 tablespoon Cumin seed (toasted)
• 1 tablespoon Coriander seed (toasted)
• 1/2 teaspoon White peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon Thai shrimp paste
• 1 teaspoon Salt

Directions

1. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds together in a flat pan over low to medium heat for a few minutes, shaking the pan often, until they brown slightly and pop — watch closely so they don't burn.
2. Grind the toasted seeds together with the white peppercorns into a fine powder. Set aside and clean the mortar.
3. Grate the kaffir lime rind until you have about a tablespoon of zest.
4. Chop the coriander root and galangal as fine as possible. Slice the lemongrass very thin. Peel and thinly slice the shallots. Peel and chop the garlic. Slice both types of chili into small pieces.
5. Grind the chilies and salt together in the mortar until very fine and you have a bright green mush.
6. Add the galangal, coriander root, and lemongrass, grinding into the chili mixture until you no longer see recognizable pieces — it should look like a wet pulp with very fine fibers.
7. Add the garlic and shallots, grinding until the mixture is entirely green with no visible white bits.
8. Add the ground toasted spices and the shrimp paste, mixing in until fully incorporated.
9. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week, or freeze for several months. Thaw slowly in the refrigerator rather than the microwave for best results.

Notes

Keep working the mixture until no white bits of garlic or shallot remain visible — an evenly bright green color throughout is the clearest sign the paste is fully ground and ready for the shrimp paste and spices.

Substitutions

Dried kaffir lime leaves, ground fine, can substitute for fresh kaffir lime rind at about half the quantity if fresh kaffir lime fruit isn't available — the flavor is close enough that it's worth using rather than skipping the ingredient.