You can’t beat homemade curry paste from scratch. Blend together this fresh Thai green curry paste in minutes, and you’ll never buy it store bought again. It’s freezable and batchable!
In This Post You’ll Learn
Why We Love This
Homemade Thai green curry paste tastes so much better than store bought curry paste!
You can easily control the quality, flavour and spice level by using the freshest natural ingredients.
Make it yourself traditionally using a mortar and pestle, or cut out the time and effort by using a food processor. Then use it to add incredible flavour to your homemade curries and dipping sauces.
This recipe is super adaptable to your preferences. For example, you can leave out the shallots or garlic, or leave out the shrimp paste for a vegan friendly version.
Related: Thai Panang Curry Paste / Balinese Base Genep Spice Paste
Curry Paste Tips: Food Processor vs Mortar & Pestle
Food Processor:
Add Oil – If your food processor is struggling to get through your herbs and spices, you can add a drizzle of vegetable oil to help get things moving and chopping properly. Use a spoon to push ingredients down closer to the blades if they’re starting to rise to high around the edges of the food processor bowl.
Mortar & Pestle:
Chop Finely – Chopping all your fresh herbs and chillies as finely as possible before popping them in the mortar and pestle will make things SO much easier. That way you’ll end up with a creamy smooth-textured paste at the end with half the work.
Sit With Your Mortar & Pestle – Place your mortar on the floor and sit cross legged beside it. Yep! This will give you maximum power and assistance from gravity. Grab your pestle and hold it with your thumb pressed on the top. Then bang away, letting the pestle fall with a flick of your wrist. You actually need less effort here than you think – just let gravity do all the work for you! Meanwhile use a spoon to scoop the ingredients back down into the centre well of the mortar.
What is Thai Green Curry Paste?
Thai green curry paste (gaeng kiew waan / แกงเขียวหวาน) is a seasoning used primarily in Thai curry sauces, especially for Thai green curry with chicken.
It’s made from a blend of long green chillies and small, spicy bird’s eye chillies, along with traditional Southeast Asian herbs and spices like galangal, turmeric, coriander and sweet basil.
Additional spices like cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns are dry toasted, then crushed and blended into the paste to give it a more savoury, earthy flavour.
What You’ll Need
- Chillies – Today we’re using equal amounts of long green chillies and extra spicy Thai green bird’s eye chillies. You can adjust the spice level by using more or less of either version, or adding in the seeds for a very, very spicy kick.
- Fresh Herbs – Lemongrass stems (the white base, around 10 cm / 4 inches in length), galangal (sub with fresh ginger if it’s more easily accessible where you live), turmeric (sub with powdered), coriander / cilantro leaves and roots, as well as Thai basil leaves. Use fresh wherever possible, this gives the paste such a huge depth of flavour and colour.
- Makrut / Kaffir Lime – You’ll need both the fresh leaves and fruit rind for this recipe. They may be labelled as kaffir lime, makrut or Thai lime, but the best name to use is makrut. If you can’t source them, just leave them out or add the zest of one regular lime.
- Shrimp Paste – An essential ingredient to bring that classic umami flavour to the curry paste. Sub with 1 tsp of salt to make it vegan or use fish sauce.
- Other Ingredients – You’ll also need small red shallots and garlic cloves to add bite to your paste.
How to Make Homemade Green Curry Paste
First, gather your ingredients: See recipe card below for measurements.
- Dry toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns in a small frying pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Move the spices around constantly for an even toast.
- Pour into a mortar and pestle and grind into powder.
- Start with the biggest ingredients first. Place your large green chillies, small green chillies and shallots into the blender. Pulse until chopped fine for around 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides using a spoon or spatula.
- Next add the galangal (or ginger), lemongrass, garlic, coriander roots and Thai makrut / kaffir lime leaves.
- Pulse for another 10 seconds and scrape down again.
- Now it’s time to add your vegetable oil to help it turn into paste.
- On top, add in the coriander leaves, Thai basil leaves, Thai makrut / kaffir lime zest and shrimp paste. Pulse and scrape down again, then blend until you see the paste start to churn itself and get smoother, around 10-15 seconds.
- To finish, pour in your turmeric powder and toasted and ground spices. Stir into the paste slightly to avoid it spraying everywhere. Blend for 5-10 seconds until completely mixed through your paste. Scrape down and blend one last time for 5 seconds and you’re ready to go!
- Use immediately as a base for your Thai green curry, or portion it out into 2 tbsp chunks and freeze, so you can grab them whenever you need. It’ll also last in the fridge in an airtight container for around two weeks.
Wandercook’s Tips
- Control the Heat – If you love super spicy curry pastes, use double or even triple the amount of chillies listed in this recipe. Or to scale it back and make it milder, leave out the bird’s eye chillies completely.
- Storage – Homemade curry paste will last around two weeks in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Toasting Spices Before Grinding – This helps release all the fragrant potential of the spices.
FAQs
Yes, you can. An easy way to do this is to measure out 2 tbsp portions of paste onto a lined baking tray. Partially freeze for 30 minutes, then transfer to an airtight container. This will stop the portions sticking together, and keep them easily accessible for your next curry! Store for up to three months.
We use Mae Ploy or Maesri brands for green curry paste if we don’t have any homemade curry paste on hand. May Ploy tends to come in larger containers, but it lasts for a long time so is handy to keep in the fridge. Maesri paste is available in convenient small size cans suitable for 1-2 batches of curry.
Yes you can, just leave out the shrimp paste and substitute with 1 tsp salt instead.
Try these amazing recipes next:
- Choo Chee Chicken Curry – A creamy, red curry based sauce with a South Australian twist.
- Panang Curry Paste – A popular Thai curry paste, with peanuts included in it!
- Thai Panang Chicken Curry – An easy weeknight curry recipe to add to your repertoire.
- Vietnamese Chicken Curry – An amazing one-pan dinner!
- Creamy Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry – A Sri Lankan curry that’s naturally vegan.
★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment and a star rating below!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 2 tbsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 3 lemongrass white stems only, chopped into chunks
- 2.5 cm galangal fresh, sub ginger
- 3 cm turmeric fresh, sub 3 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp Thai makrut / kaffir lime zest grated, sub regular lime
- 4 coriander root chopped
- 6 Thai makrut / kaffir lime leaves
- 5 large green chillies fresh and deseeded
- 5 small green chillies fresh and deseeded (medium spice level), such as bird's eye
- ¼ cup coriander leaves around 30
- ¼ cup Thai basil leaves around 20
- 5 shallots or ½ red onion, whole or sliced in half for larger ones
- 10 garlic whole cloves
- 2 tsp shrimp paste sub fish sauce or 1 tsp salt to make it vegan
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Instructions
For toasting the spices
- Dry toast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns in a small frying pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Move the spices around constantly for an even toast.2 tbsp coriander seeds, 2 tbsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- Pour into a mortar and pestle and grind into powder.
For making the paste in a blender
- Start with the biggest ingredients first. Place your large green chillies, small green chillies and shallots into the blender.5 large green chillies, 5 shallots, 5 small green chillies
- Pulse until chopped fine for around 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides using a spoon or spatula.
- Next add the galangal (or ginger), lemongrass, garlic, coriander roots and Thai makrut / kaffir lime leaves. Pulse for another 10 seconds and scrape down again.3 lemongrass, 2.5 cm galangal, 4 coriander root, 10 garlic, 6 Thai makrut / kaffir lime leaves
- Now it’s time to add your vegetable oil to help it turn into paste. On top, add in the coriander leaves, Thai basil leaves, Thai makrut / kaffir lime zest and shrimp paste. Pulse and scrape down again, then blend until you see the paste start to churn itself and get smoother, around 10-15 seconds.2 tsp Thai makrut / kaffir lime zest, ¼ cup coriander leaves, ¼ cup Thai basil leaves, 2 tsp shrimp paste, 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- To finish, pour in your turmeric powder and toasted and ground spices. Stir into the paste slightly to avoid it spraying everywhere. Blend for 5-10 seconds until completely mixed through your paste. Scrape down and blend one last time for 5 seconds and you’re ready to go!3 cm turmeric
- Use immediately as a base for your Thai green curry, or portion it out into 2 tbsp chunks and freeze, so you can grab them whenever you need. It’ll also last in the fridge in an airtight container for around two weeks.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Control the Heat – If you love super spicy curry pastes, use double or even triple the amount of chillies listed in this recipe. Or to scale it back and make it milder, leave out the bird’s eye chillies completely.
- Storage – Homemade curry paste will last around two weeks in the fridge in an airtight container.
- Toasting Spices Before Grinding – This helps release all the fragrant potential of the spices.
Nutrition
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