Green curry chicken and baby corn

I was very excited to make this recipe, because Thai curries have always been a mystery to me.  I made the green curry paste myself in a mortar and pestle using about 10 ingredients.  It was interesting to do this, because I finally got to see all the ingredients that contribute to the flavor.

In that regard, curry pastes are the Thai equivalent of garam masalas.  They're composed of a large number of ingredients, none of which by itself has a prominent presence in the final dish.  It would make more sense to buy pre-made garam masalas than pre-made curry pastes, because curry pastes are made primarily from fresh herbs and vegetables, while garam masalas are made primarily from less perishable dried spices.

I followed the recipe in David Thompson's book Thai Food.  It went very smoothly.  Making the curry paste was somewhat laborious, due more to the prepping of the ingredients (peeling, chopping, grating, etc.) than to actually grinding them.