Main Dishes

Easy Authentic Thai Green Curry At Home

Homemade Thai green curry deserves respect. It's actually easy, and it just requires a little hard work.

Prep
1 hour
Cook
30 minutes
Total
1 hour, 30 minutes
Serves
4
people
Easy Authentic Thai Green Curry At Home
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Ingredients

Green Curry Paste:

  • 2 tsp (4g) coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp (2g) cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp (3g) white peppercorns
  • 9 Thai chilies, thinly sliced
  • 3 serranos, thinly sliced
  • 2 small shallots, thinly sliced 
  • 7 cloves garlic, thinly sliced 
  • 4 cilantro stems, thinly sliced (no leaves) 
  • 1 lemongrass stalk, thinly sliced 
  • 2” (5cm) knob galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 3 kaffir lime leaves, chiffonade
  • 1 lime, zested
  • ½ tsp (4g) dried Thai shrimp paste

Curry:

  • 2 Tbsp (28ml) vegetable oil
  • Green curry paste
  • 5 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • ¾ cup (177ml) chicken stock
  • 1 Tbsp (17g) palm sugar, plus more to taste
  • 2 Tbsp (30ml) fish sauce, plus more to taste 
  • 13.5 oz (400ml) can full fat coconut milk
  • 3 kaffir lime leaves
  • ¾ lb (340g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into ½” (12mm) cubes
  • 1-2 Thai eggplants, sliced ½” (12mm) thick  
  • 1.5 cups (160g) snow peas
  • ½ bunch Thai basil leaves
  • 2 limes (1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges, to garnish) 

Assembly: 

  • Steamed short-grain white rice, to serve
  • Green Curry 
  • Fried shallots, to garnish
  • Thinly sliced serrano chilies, to garnish
  • Thai basil leaves, to garnish

Directions

Green Curry Paste:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 325℉ (163℃). Place the coriander, cumin, and peppercorns on a small baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
  2. In a large mortar and pestle, add the toasted spices and grind until it becomes a powder. 
  3. Add in the Thai chiles and grind for about 1 minute, or until it forms a paste. 
  4. Add the serranos and continue to grind until the chiles are as fine as possible, about 2-3 more minutes. It is fine enough when you no longer can see the seeds. 
  5. Roughly chop the sliced galangal and add to the paste. Grind this for another 1-2 minutes or until a paste forms again.
  6. Finely chop the sliced lemongrass and grind into a paste, about 3-4 minutes. 
  7. Add in the lime leaves, coriander and shallots and again grind until smooth. 
  8. Finely, add in the garlic and grind into a paste. Stir in the lime zest and shrimp paste until combined. You know the paste is smooth enough when you can form it into a ball and it holds together. 

Curry:

  1. In a medium pot over medium heat add the oil and allow to heat. When the oil is hot add in all of the green curry paste, and cook, stirring often, for about 3-4 minutes, or until the curry paste has dried out and is starting to stick to the bottom of the pan. 
  2. Stir in the garlic and let cook for 25 seconds or until fragrant. 
  3. Pour in the chicken stock and stir until the curry paste dissolves.
  4. Add the palm sugar and fish sauce and stir until the sugar dissolves. 
  5. Stir in the coconut milk and lime leaves and bring the sauce to a light simmer. Reduce the heat to low and blend with a hand blender until as smooth as you like (blending is optional).
  6. Add in the chicken thighs, stirring to ensure they are fully submerged, and simmer for 7-8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. 
  7. Add the eggplant and stir to submerge in the curry. Simmer for 4 minutes or until softened. 
  8. Next, add the snow peas and simmer until they reach your desired consistency; for a tender but still slightly crunchy snow pea cook for 1-2 minutes. 
  9. Season the curry to taste with lime juice and additional fish sauce and palm sugar if you’d like. Stir in the Thai basil leaves to steep into the sauce. 

Assembly: 

  1. Add the steamed rice to one side of a serving bowl. Ladle the curry into the other side. Garnish with fried shallots, sliced serrano and Thai basil leaves. Serve immediately.

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