Bought vs homemade: Thai curry paste

Nothing beats the aroma of a Thai green curry bubbling with the promise of a delicious weeknight meal. But is a store-bought curry paste as good as a homemade version?

Bought

Asian Home Gourmet Spice Paste for Thai Green Curry

Ingredients: Fresh green chillies, lemongrass (17%), garlic, shallot, salt, galangal, fish sauce (anchovy-fish extract, salt, sugar), basil leaves (2%), white pepper, shrimp paste (shrimp, salt), kaffir lime peel, cumin, coriander.

vs

Homemade

Healthy food guide Thai curry paste

Ingredients: Onion, garlic, red or green chilli, kaffir lime leaves or zest of lime, lemongrass, fresh ginger, fresh coriander, fish sauce, sugar, water.

Nutrition information per serve

*This gets cheaper the more you can source from your own, or a friend’s, garden.

Not much is nicer than the taste of a curry paste made of fresh herbs from the garden.

But that’s not possible for all people – even those with green fingers and a good climate are at the mercy of growing seasons.

This bought curry paste delivers good flavour and is pretty economical too.

The watch-point is the sodium, as is often the case with packaged foods. The good news here is that if you are making a green curry, there’s no need to add any other ingredients that contain a significant amount of sodium to your meal. So, we think this is a good alternative. But do try the fresh version too – it tastes great!