Thai Green Curry Paste

Have you ever made homemade Thai curry?

Have you ever made homemade Thai curry with your own homemade Thai curry paste?! Now this picture below looks a little like just a bunch of green mush- but it's GLORIOUS when it's made into a beautiful Thai Green Curry.

Well, this was something that I'd wanted to do since I discovered Thai food. My boyfriend and I love our Thai food and have a favourite place we often frequent (It's called Khunnai Chang Thai Cuisine and I HIGHLY recommend it). We fell so in love with Thai food that we started making it regularly at home. Before I made my own batch of curry paste- we used to use Thai Kitchen. Now, that is good...but it is in no way close to the fresh stuff. This curry paste is amazing. It's easy to make (once you have the ingredients...), but now that I'm here to help you- it will be as simple as reciting the alphabet.

The beautiful thing about this recipe is that it is gluten-free and without preservatives or additives!

The hardest things to find are the Kaffir Lime Leaves and Limes. They are essential for this recipe- so don't substitute. These limes are heavenly. I found them at the South China Seas Trading Co. on Granville Island. I couldn't find them at Whole Foods, Safeway, or No Frills. You could probably also find them at a large Asian Grocery Store. The rest of the ingredients I found at No Frills.

If you've never worked with lemongrass before: here's a video on how to do it!

This recipe will make roughly 8-10 large curries.

Homemade Thai Green Curry Paste
2 stalks lemongrass, minced 
5 green jalapeños
3 shallots, sliced
1/4 cup ginger, sliced
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves & stems
1/3 cup dried basil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. ground coriander
6 tbsp. gluten-free tamari
2 tsp. shrimp paste (available at South China Market on Granville Island) (I also read that you can sub this for 1 tsp salt if you're a vegetarian...no guarantees though)
2 Kaffir lime leaves

The zest of 2 kaffir limes

I blended all ingredients together using my new handy hand blender. I've also made a batch using a regular blender, but it takes a bit more time. Since the paste is thick, you have to stop and hand mix the stuff in the blender often. A hand blender took me 3 minutes at most. 
Once it's all blended together: stuff it in a jar, and put it in the fridge! It lasts up to a week in there. Another option is to put it into Zip-lock bags in single uses, and put that in the freezer! Then, when you're making curry, just pop your single serving amount out of the freezer, and drop it into your pan!

To make the curry:
Saute half a yellow onion in coconut oil.
Add diced chicken thighs (or your choice of meat or seafood)
Add diced bell pepper, bamboo, green beans, eggplant....really, whatever you want.
Add a generous dollop of this curry paste along with one can of coconut milk (I use Aroy-D--no binders or thickeners).
Cook until veggies are tender. Voila!

This curry paste is spicier the more you add! It's honestly amazing. SO worth it. I made a batch for my Dad for his birthday!