Homemade Sundays - Spicy Style

Pound out your stresses in the best way ever!

After our 2-yr stint in South Korea, we traveled through SE Asia exploring incredible cities and villages, renting some sketchy scooters, and tasting the best food in the world (don't take my word for it!)

While in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we decided to take a break from Muay Thai fighting matches and night markets and actually learn to make some of the delicious food we were eating. So, sign up for a day-long cooking class at Baan Thai Cookery School we did; complete with market trip to buy our ingredients and a full day of tasting everything (no movement that night). Best culinary experience ever. 

Beyond the eating, the people, and the location, the cookbook we were given at the end of our day made the stove-filled hours VERY worthwhile. One of the 'dishes', so to speak, that is a must-make for curry lovers and natural spice enthusiasts is the Green Curry Paste. Packed with enough punch to make any eyes water and enough flavor to leave you in a delighted haze, this recipe will make enough paste to fit the above tupperware, and will last for ages (only 1 tbsp for a 4-serving curry!)   

Thai ppl know their Mortars.

You'll never buy a jar of curry sauce again!

Thai Green Curry Paste

15 green fresh chilies
3 tbsp shallot
1 tbsp garlic
50 g chopped galangal (Thai ginger - easy to find in most Asian grocery stores)
1/2 tbsp chopped lemongrass
1 tsp ginger (the 'regular' stuff)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chopped lime peel
1 tsp chopped coriander root (using the stems from fresh coriander works very well)
1 tsp turmeric powder

1. Put garlic, green chilies, and turmeric into the mortar and pound well.

2. Add lemongrass, galangal, coriander root, lime peel, and pound well.

3. Add shallot, ginger, and pound well. (See a pattern yet??)

4. Add salt and pound until smooth and fine.

 
** A full 9 hrs of market-ing, mortar pounding, frying, and tasting brings out the biggest smiles in the dirtiest of backpackers <3
Baan Thai Cookery School, Chiang Mai