Try adding a sliced green or red bell pepper, for both flavor and visual zing. A yellow bell pepper, sliced vertically on the up-down axis, also makes a tasty trip out. In addition to bell peppers, you can consider adding a carrot, diced into tiny bits, and this will sweeten and round the lemongrass flavor in a way that defies description. Thai Kitchen I would use only if this were my only choice. I would also add more chilies, more shrimp paste, and would use a LOT of it, like...the whole jar for a 4-serving curry (which makes it also the most expensive one in this lineup). If I'm cooking for kids or people who cannot handle any spiciness at all, then Thai Kitchen would be a safe choice. What About Other Kinds of Curry Paste? Maeploy - my current go-to brand. It does contain shrimp paste, which is traditional, but if you’re vegan this one is out by default. Gluten-free: this recipe is naturally gluten-free as long as your fish sauce has no wheat additives ( Red Boat does not).

Be creative with a small amount of garnish to make your dish look pretty on the table, grated carrot for colour, thinly sliced chilli, sesame seed, thinly sliced red cabbage, your call but make it look nice because you will enjoy the dish more. Add the liquid part of the coconut milk, a tablespoon of (palm if you have it) sugar and a cup (250ml) of water, a tablespoon of fish sauce and bring to the boil for a minute.Green curry paste options are vast, and they vary wildly in flavor and heat levels. Most green curry pastes include the same basic ingredients, including green chiles, lemongrass, garlic, galangal, shallots and makrut (or kaffir) lime, but the similarities stop there. Some pastes are searing hot, others nearly sweet. Some include shrimp, some don’t. And while some are chunky, others are velvety smooth. Add in the garlic, red and green chilies, baby corn, chopped coriander stem, and sliced strips of the large red chilies. Sauté for 30-40 seconds. Vegetarian + vegan: make this recipe with all vegetables, or vegetables + tofu plus substitute soy sauce (or coconut liquid aminos) for the fish sauce and this recipe is vegetarian and vegan. One thing we can’t forget is the readymade pastes are time saving and some of them taste really great! If you don’t want to spend time finding the ingredients, you should definitely use the readymade jarred paste. I sometimes use them too when I don’t have some ingredients at home and I am really impressed by how some of those readymade pastes tasted. Veggies - any combination of Japanese eggplant, mushrooms, snow peas, zucchini, green peas, and onions can easily work in place of the broccoli, peppers, and carrots

Aroy-D - another brand that I use quite often cuz it’s widely available; and if Mae Ploy isn't available this is the one I get. They also make my go-to coconut milk.For my recipes, I'm either using Mae Ploy or Aroy-D in my tests, both of which are very similar. If you're using Namjai it will also be similar enough that no adjustments should be necessary. My Final Recommendations With the above guidelines, I arrived at these 5: Most common brands of Thai red curry paste on the market. Though we did not test other kinds of curry pastes (yellow, green, etc.), I have used them in the past and I am quite certain that the results would not be all that different. The top 3 might switch positions a bit (and it's worth noting that Mae Ploy yellow curry paste doesn't contain shrimp paste), but I highly doubt that the bottom 2 would be different. Then, the paste is used to make a coconut milk based curry with protein, veggies, herbs and Thai food essentials such as garlic, Thai sweet basil, kaffir lime leaves, coconut/palm sugar, and red bird’s eye chilies. Ingredients: Garlic 21.5%, Dried Red Chilli 19.0%, Lemongrass 18.5%, Shallot 14.5%, Salt 13.0%, Galangal 6.0%, Shrimp paste (Shrimp ( Crustacean ) 80%, Salt 4.5%), Kaffir lime peel 2.5%, Pepper 0.5%.

Garlic & ginger: fresh offers the best flavor, but garlic and ginger powder can also substitute. See the recipe card notes for the exact amount!This green curry is delicious served with any of your favorite toppings (Thai basil, extra lime slices, cilantro, sliced chiles, etc.) over steamed jasmine rice or cauliflower rice. Also, Thai Kitchen’s Green Curry Paste and De Siam’s Thai Green Curry Paste are milder than Mae Ploy’s Green Curry Paste– so you can opt to use either of the first two instead. 😊