RECIPE: Green Curry Paste - From Scratch for BC Living

Green Curry Paste 
From Scratch for BC Living
April 2022 

One of the greatest things about making curry is that you can search through your vegetable crisper and throw just about anything into it.  
It’s easily made vegetarian or vegan, you could go the chicken route, or maybe shrimp for your protein. 

BUT, if you’ve made curry paste from scratch, instead of getting one of those little jars, you might not be able to go back. It tastes so much fresher and the fragrance is killer, and thankfully it’s easy to make. 
It might not be as great as your favorite Thai spot, but it’s going to improve your home cooking for sure. 
 
The lime leaves, and lemongrass, as well as the chilies, I found at T&T and at the markets on Granville Island. Some grocery stores have one thing, but not the other, so it might be a hunt, but the reward is worth it. 
 
Makes Approx. 1 Cup of Curry Paste 

INGREDIENTS: 

- 5 cloves garlic 
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger (or galangal if you can find it) 
- large handful of cilantro (roots preferred, but stems will do) 
- 2 small shallots 
- 2 lemongrass stalks 
- 8+ Thai green chilies* 
- 2-4 serrano chilies* 
- 2 tsp cumin seeds 
- 1 tsp white peppercorns 
- lime leaves (5-6) 
 

INSTRUCTIONS: 
 
*If you can’t handle your spice, start with fewer chilies (and de-seed them) on your first go at making this paste. If you don’t find it spicy enough, add more the next time. 

 
Grind the cumin seeds and peppercorns until fine – or use pre-ground if you must! 

Peel your garlic, ginger (or galangal), and shallots and roughly chop. 
 
Remove the tops of the lemongrass and chop the lower parts into a few small pieces. 
 
Place the garlic, ginger, shallots, spices, lemongrass, lime leaves, and chilies (de-seed if desired), as well as a handful of cilantro root/stems into a food processor.  
You can also chop everything finely and then make this in a large mortar and pestle if you have one (and the arm strength) instead but it will take a LONG time. 
 
Blend on high until the paste is as smooth as possible. Scrape down the sides every now and then. 
And you’re ready to go. 
I portioned this out and froze the leftovers for future curry meals. 
 
This is a great base for different types of curry. You can add fish sauce and shrimp paste into it. 
 
If you’re making a Green Thai Curry, y ou can add fish sauce and shrimp paste into it. And be sure to cook the paste down in some full-fat coconut milk for a little bit first so that the flavors really come together. 

Curry "Chicken" Sandwich – But Make It Vegan
for Environment911.org
July 2021

I've made a similar type dish with chickpeas before, which are much quicker if you want something stat, but if you want to try a new texture, give soy curls a try. 
 
It was my first foray into them as a chicken substitute and honestly, I was quite impressed. They really hold the flavor well, and it was even better the second day – so I’d recommend making it the day before you’re going to eat it. 
 
Many health food and vegan shops will have the soy curls, but you can also purchase bags from the internet. 

Serves 2-3  
(Can be doubled) 
 
INGREDIENTS: 

- ¾ cup soy curls  
- 1 1/4 veg broth or a vegan chicken-style broth  
- ½ cup finely diced celery 
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion 
- 1/3 cup vegan mayo, more if needed 
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder  
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder  
- 2 tsp of curry powder (more to taste) 
- salt and pepper, to taste 

- bun or lettuce cups for serving 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Bring the broth to a low boil (or use a cup of water and add a vegan Boullion cube and dissolve) and then remove from heat. 

Place the dried soy curls in the broth and gently stir around until they are fully covered with it. 
 
Chop the onion and celery into finely diced pieces. In a small bowl, place the vegan mayo, and the rest of the spice and mix until evenly distributed. 
 
After the curls have soaked for 8-10 mins, drain them and place them on a tea towel to dry. 
 
You can chop them up at this stage and use them as is, but you can also toast them lightly in a very lightly oiled frying pan until they get slightly browned. 
 
Once ready, combine everything into a bowl, adding more mayo if needed. Taste for seasoning, esp. the curry powder. And either serve straight away or let cool in the fridge. 

I wrote a few recipes for BC Living from when I went camping on the August long weekend (at Twenty Mile Bay) - Gourmet Camping Recipes for Your Next Camping Trip.

Some of them are long, so I figured I’d break each of them down into their own posts (means extra photos too!) - the first being Jackfruit Tacos (click for recipe), followed by breakfast with a Chickpea & Potato Breakfast Hash (recipe for that here), and finally we have Green Curry.

You can 100% make this at home (any of them really), but a lot of the tips are for how to prep before you leave, and minimize effort at the campsite.

---

“Skip the roasted weenies and indulge in these easy-to-make camping recipes! These dishes might look fancy, but much of the prep work can be done at home (and then frozen), and all of them can be done on a camp stove if there's a fire ban. Oh, and they can also all be made vegan!

So make your grocery list, get shopping and start prepping these delicious and nutritious camping meals...”

Green Curry with Ginger Rice (paired with The Hatch 2019 B. Yanco)

While this may sound way too fancy for a camping meal, it’s essentially a one-pot production that you barely have to monitor. The second pot comes into play if you want to make your rice fresh at the site, but you could make it ahead of time at home and just mix it right into the curry.

Another good thing about this dish is that if there is leftover veg from breakfast (think onion, peppers, potatoes, etc.), you can toss them right in here. No waste and you can chop everything in the morning, meaning more time on the beach.
Once again, this can be made vegan by eliminating the chicken (which I diced and froze ahead of time so by night two it was ready to go and I didn’t have to handle raw chicken on site), or substituting in some tofu, as the rest of it is just veggies!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 can coconut milk

• ⅔ cup water (approx.)

• 1 vegetable bouillon cube

• 2 chicken breasts, diced

• 1 small onion, diced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 tbsp (possibly more to taste) green curry paste

• About 200 g of mushrooms (your choice, but I went with shimeji and shiitake)

• ½ red pepper, cut into strips

• 1 or 2 baby bok choy, roughly chopped (spinach works too)

• About 20 snap peas, ends trimmed

• Thumb of ginger (optional), sliced

• 1 cup jasmine rice

• Basil, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cook the rice in a pot to the specifications on the package (adding in some optional ginger for flavour, removing after rice is finished) and set aside.

2. In a pan, heat the olive oil on medium and then add the onion, sautéing for a few minutes, before adding the garlic and the green curry paste.

3. Add in the chicken if you are using it and cook until just no longer pink.

4. Add the coconut milk into the pan and stir until the paste has been dissolved. Then add in the mushrooms and red pepper. You may need to thin the sauce out more here, depending how you like your curry. If so, dissolve the bouillon cube in the two-thirds cup of water, and then add it to the pan. (You can transfer to a large pot if your pan doesn’t fit this.)

5. Bring to a boil and then turn to low and let it simmer. You can taste and see if you need more curry paste (if so it may be easiest to dissolve it in a small bowl with a bit of the curry broth, and then add it in).

6. After the liquid has reduced a bit, and you have the spices where you like, add in the bok choy and the snap peas and cook for a few minutes until just tender (you want a bit of crunch to them still).

7. Turn off the heat, plate the rice (with the ginger discarded) and then scoop the curry mix on to it. Tear the basil and add on top (optional) and enjoy the view.

8. Drinks: There’s not much you can’t pair with a spicy curry, but a cold, dry, white wine is a sure bet. I tried The Hatch Winery’s B. Yanco a few months back from the Stable House Bistro takeout window, and fell in love. I’ve paired it with so many meals since, and on the beach as the sun went down sipped on between bites of this dish was another success.