I love thai curry – green being my favourite variety. I thought I’d try making my own curry paste and this one is definitely the best I’ve tried.

I used a recipe from Delicious Magazine, but made a few changes to the final curry:

5 chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 large shallot, roughly chopped
5cm piece fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Small bunch fresh coriander, with stalks and roots if possible
2 lemongrass stalks, outer layers removed, finely chopped
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
6 kaffir lime leaves, torn (optional)
2.5cm piece galangal, chopped (from Asian grocers; optional)
1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp thai fish sauce
3 tbsp olive oil

Just blend all the above ingredients together. This freezes really well, so you can make a proper thai curry on the go, without having to resort to using one from a jar.

To make the curry – serves 4.
1 tbsp groundnut oil
veg of your choice – the recipe suggests aubergine, but I variate between asparagus, mange tout and baby sweetcorn.
150g green curry paste (see above)
400ml can coconut milk
3 chicken breasts, cubed.
Grated zest and juice of 1 lime
100g baby spinach
1 tsp thai fish sauce
Small bunch fresh coriander,
Chopped, plus extra to garnish

I’ve made this a few times and found that the consistency varies wildly depending on the type of coconut milk you use. I made this with reduced fat coconut milk the first time, which obviously produced a much thinner sauce.

What I love about this is that the curry part of the recipe is really quick and just needs a few storecupboard ingredients, so as long as you have a supply of the paste in the freezer, you’ve always got something tasty and quick to make after work.