Phrik Gaeng Keow Wan — Green Curry Paste / พริกแกงเขียวหวาน

Central Thai — the defining curry of Central Thai cuisine; the name 'keow wan' (sweet green) refers to the pale green colour of the immature chillies, not sweetness

Green curry paste is the most technically demanding of the Thai curry pastes — the fresh aromatics must be worked to an ultra-fine consistency or the paste will produce a stringy, separated curry rather than a smooth, fragrant one. The colour comes not from green chillies alone but from the combined green of fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime rind, galangal, krapao or horapha leaves, and the fresh green spur chillies (prik chee fah khiao) and bird's eye green chillies (prik kee noo khiao). The fresh aromatics must be pounded in the correct sequence — dried ingredients first, then progressively moister — or the wet materials will prevent the dry from breaking down. A properly made paste should be brilliant emerald green with a fine, almost smooth texture.

The quality of the green curry paste determines the quality of the curry more than any other factor — a properly made fresh paste produces a curry of completely different character from commercial paste, with a brightness and complexity that survives the long coconut milk cooking.