Make Your Own Curry Paste

The dreaded lurgy which I thought I had escaped Winter from has struck me down. Now the reality of parenting whilst feeling like your head is a bowling ball and you’ve swallowed razor blades is really hitting home, throw in little sleep and it’s no fun, no fun at all. I’m just praying that Eleanor doesn’t get sick, that would just be the icing on the cake! Times like this there’s nothing for it – you need warm, comforting meals preferably with enough garlic and ginger to kill a small army. Sure there’s soups and stews, but I’m also quite partial to a curry in these situations. Making your own curry paste is not as scary as you would think – really! There’s a fair few ingredients, true, but once you add them to your shopping list and have everything at your fingertips, it’s simple. See?

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Green Curry Paste

Ingredients
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Bunch of spring onions, white part only, chopped
4cm piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
4 garlic cloves
2 stalks of lemongrass, white part only, chopped
3 curry leaves
3 kaffir lime leaves
6 long green chillies, chopped
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Method
Blitz all ingredients together in food processor, pouring the oil in at the end and adjusting how much you might need to get a good paste consistency. You might need to scrape down the sides a bit, pulse, re-scrape, pulse, until it comes together nicely. Store in airtight container for up to a week in the fridge, the sooner you use it the better.

* I usually like to use coriander roots instead of ground coriander, but couldn’t find any in the supermarket! A good green grocer is your best bet.

Voila – you just made your own curry paste! Fry it off over high heat and stick your head right into it. Ginger! Chilli! Garlic! Adjust however much you want of each ingredient, the batch I just made I only put 3 chillies in as I wasn’t sure how Eleanor would like it coming through my milk – turns out it was wayyyyy too mild for my liking (but Matt approved!) It also really depends on your chillies, ones that I’ve grown myself have been knock-your-socks-off whereas store bought ones can be a bit ho-hum. I use this green curry paste in my Thai green curry, but you can make a red one too (with red chillies, more the merrier).

Have you made your own curry paste before?
Made anything else you usually buy in a jar and think nothing of it?
Got the lurgy? Blergh!