It's easy to transform our Thai Curry blend into a delicious homemade green curry paste using fresh cilantro and basil. You can play around with adding other ingredients, such as fresh lemongrass, chiles, kaffir lime leaves and shallots.
The resulting paste is a great condiment to keep in the fridge for whipping up a quick dinner. Fry it up and add coconut milk plus your favorite meat or veggie. Adding a touch of sugar to the curry balances the flavor and gets it closer to the traditional version, but it isn't necessary.
One note about this curry: while the paste is definitively green, the curry tends to cook up a reddish or yellowish color because of the ground spices in the blend. Hence, these are Thai "Green" (not Green) Curry Meatballs!
I love this recipe because it's perfect for making little Thai Curry bowls with rice and toppings, such as toasted coconut or nuts.
Serves 4
Green curry paste:
4 tablespoons Thai Curry
3 tablespoons fish sauce
Juice of one lime
2 tablespoons Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 shallot, minced
3 green chiles, deseeded and minced (I used jalapenos)
¼ cup chopped cilantro (leaves and stems)
¼ cup chopped basil
Meatballs:
1 lb ground pork
2 heaping tablespoons green curry paste
½ cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg
2 green onions, white and light green parts minced
1 tsp salt
pepper
Curry:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 white onion, diced
1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt
3 carrots, peeled and sliced to ¼” rounds
2 heaping tablespoons of green curry paste
1 can coconut milk
½ cup water
1-2 teaspoons coconut or brown sugar
1-2 teaspoons rice vinegar
Extra basil and cilantro for garnish
Make the paste: Combine ingredients and blend in a blender until smooth. You'll get about a cup of runny paste.
Make the meatballs: Preheat broiler and set oven rack to upper position. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with oil. In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons paste with ground pork, panko, egg, green onion and salt and pepper. Using your hands, roll into golf-sized balls. Broil until brown on top, rotating the baking sheet once if necessary, about 5-7 minutes total. Set aside meatballs.
While the meatballs are browning, warm a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Cook onion, ginger, garlic and salt for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add carrots and curry paste and cook, stirring, 2 minutes more.
Pour coconut milk, water and sugar into the skillet. Bring to a boil. Add meatballs, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until meatballs are cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
Remove from heat and add rice vinegar. Add salt to taste.
Erica Perez
Author