I absolutely love Thai curries and have made quite a few over the years supplementing the store bought pastes with extra ingredients to add zing. Amazingly, yesterday, for the first time, I decided to make my own paste and I am here to tell you that I am NEVER going to use store bought paste again. The stuff I made was so fresh tasting and pungent and gave a really authentic kick to my curry. Chris and I both lapped it up and will again for lunch!

Thai Chicken Curry with My Own Paste

1/4 cup peanut oil
4 T fresh ginger
6 cloves garlic
3 shallots
3 t ground coriander powder
3 t ground cumin powder
2T ground red pepper flakes
a handful of fresh coriander
a handful of fresh thai basil
zest of 1 lime
4 sticks of lemon grass, heavy outside bits removed
3/4 to 1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 c Thai fish sauce (good quality, not the cheapeast on the shelf. It makes a difference.)
1 can coconut milk, unsweetened
12 oz. chicken stock

3 or 4 handfuls fresh string beans, trimmed

juice of 1 lime
a hint of brown sugar
black pepper to taste
fresh coriander, chopped, for garnish
fresh thai basil, chopped, for garnish

Place peanut oil, ginger, garlic, shallots, coriander powder, cumin powder, red pepper flakes, fresh coriander, fresh thai basil, lime zest and lemon grass in bowl of small food processor and process on high until a paste forms. Taste and make corrections.

Place a film of peanut oil on the bottom of a large pan and when it is hot, add the paste. Saute until ingredients are letting off a pungent aroma. Add chicken breasts and saute till all of the pink is gone and chicken is looking done. Then add coconut milk, chicken stock, fish sauce and bring to a simmer. Add fresh string beans, or any other vegetable (when feeding a mob, as I so often do, I add eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, red and green peppers, anything I might have around actually). Taste and add some brown sugar (be careful not to add too much), lime zest and black pepper. Keep tasting until you really like it. I usually kick up the fish sauce a notch and add some more red pepper at this point and perhaps lime juice. Cook until beans are nearly done and then turn off heat. I like to let it sit awhile to allow the flavors to blend.

Serve with basmati rice. While making the rice, reheat the curry, tasting for spice corrections, and add fresh coriander and thai basil at very end for tasty garnish.

Yum!

Serves 4 - ish.