Thai Green Curry

Last week we took a trip via our taste buds to Italy with this really yummy Homemade Ricotta Ravioli recipe and today we’re going over 5,000 miles east to a place near and dear to my heart, Thailand, with a recipe for Thai Green Curry!

During my cooking lesson in Thailand

When I visited Thailand last year, Thai green curry was a dish that could be found on almost every menu in every restaurant. Prior to traveling there, I don’t believe that I’d ever even tried it, but when I did I couldn’t get enough! What I loved about it was the slight heat provided by the chilies, the subtle sweetness added by the coconut milk, and the textural elements provided by the plethora of vegetables included.

Since returning, I’ve attempted to recreate some of the dishes that I got to try like Pad Thai and Spring Rolls, but it can often be difficult to find all of the necessary ingredients needed to complete an entire Thai dish unless I visited a specialty market that carries exactly what I’m looking for.

Luckily, living in New York City does have its perks, and with a quick Google search I came across a Thai grocery store in the heart of Manhattan’s Chinatown known as Bangkok Center Grocery on 104 Mosco St that had everything I needed and more! From Thai basil and fresh chilies to lemongrass and green papaya, I was truly in Thai food heaven. I even got my first mortar and pestle so that I could make my own green curry paste at home.

The store, itself was smaller than I anticipated, but don’t let that fool you because it is still very well stocked. The employees were also unbelievably kind and willing to answer any questions I had and being that I had such a pleasant experience, I’ll definitely be sure to return.

Thai Eggplant!

I was excited to finally get started and had so much fun pounding all of the ingredients together, with my arm definitely getting a good workout.

Nevertheless, in the end, while the flavors were definitely there, I wasn’t too thrilled with the consistency, because no matter how much I mashed those ingredients, they never fully reached that paste-like texture that I was looking for. The lemongrass, in particular, was the most difficult ingredient of all to work with and in the end I was left with little pieces of it in my curry, so any suggestions are gladly appreciated!

Overall I was pretty satisfied with how my curry turned out being that it was the first time making it on my own, but I definitely know that there is some room for improvement. Now that I know where I can get all of the ingredients I need, as well as my very own mortar and pestle, bringing the flavors of Thailand home is only a short train ride away!

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I’ll be bringing this spicy little bowl of goodness over to Fiesta Friday #59 over at The Novice Gardener and co-hosted by Jhuls at The Not So Creative Cook and Mila at milkandbun.