Name: Green curry paste
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: Makes 750g/1lb 10oz
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 50g coriander seed; 25g cumin seed; 1 whole blade mace; 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg; 9 garlic cloves chopped; 9 shallots chopped; about 15 coriander roots, chopped, plus a handful of coriander leaves; 19 green chillies deseeded and chopped; 250g galangal chopped; 5 lemongrass stalks, outer leaves removed, inner stalk chopped; 5 lime leaves stalks removed and leaves chopped; 100g shrimp paste; handful basil leaves

Home
Recipes
Green curry paste

Green curry paste

John Torode

Save recipe

Makes 750g/1lb 10oz

More effort

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 5 mins

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.7 ratingsRate

loading...

John Torode shares his secret to making a fragrant Thai curry - use this strong and aromatic homemade paste as a base

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Easy Thai green chicken curry

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.29 ratings

French bean & duck Thai curry

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.26 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

50g coriander seed
25g cumin seed
1 whole blade mace
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
9 garlic cloves

chopped
9 shallots

chopped
about 15 coriander

roots, chopped, plus a handful of coriander leaves
19 green chillies

deseeded and chopped
250g galangal

chopped
5 lemongrass

stalks, outer leaves removed, inner stalk chopped
5 lime leaves

stalks removed and leaves chopped
100g shrimp paste
handful basil leaves

Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.

Nutrition: per serving (30g)

kcal18
fat1g
saturates0g
carbs2g
sugars1g
fibre0g
protein2g
salt1.2g

low

Method

step 1

Heat a dry frying pan and add the coriander and cumin seeds, mace and nutmeg. Roast until they begin to colour and release their aromas. Remove from the heat, then grind to a powder in a spice mill or blender.
step 2

Put the garlic in a blender or pound using a pestle and mortar, then add the shallots, coriander roots, chillies, galangal, lemongrass and 2 tsp salt. Finally, add the lime leaves, shrimp paste, basil and the ground spices, then whizz or pound until you have a smooth paste.

RECIPE TIPS

MAKE AHEAD

As Thai ingredients can be hard to get hold of, this paste is worth making in a large batch. Freeze the unused paste in ice cube trays for up to 2 months and use straight from the freezer.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2012

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.7 ratings

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now