Ingredients
1/4 cup vegan fish sauce
1 bulb shallot
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp lemon grass
1 tbsp galangal
5 thread lime skin
10-15 green chile peppers
1 handful of Thai basil leaves
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp Himalaya salt
Steps
Prepare
Remove garlic and shallot skin
Chop lemongrass for easier grinding
Use knife to peel the green part (skin) of lime, get about 5 threads. Alternatively, you can use 2 tbsp of lime zest
Clean and remove stem of green chile peppers
Clean Thai basil, remove stem, use only the leaves
If you don’t have coriander powder or cumin powder, simply toast them in the pan and mash them into powder using grinder or mortar
Making
Put all the ingredients in the mortar, mash until ingredients are blended and turn to puree. For quicker and easier way, you can use a blender to mix everything together until smooth.
Note
Use immediately or keep refrigerated for 3 days or freezer for 2-4 weeks
The longer you leave the paste the lesser it stays green because of oxidization. However, when you cook and use the paste again, you can puree 1 handful of basil leaves. Using this together with the prepared paste, the curry color will be green again, the flavor will not change.
You can substitute coriander/cilantro for Thai basil, however if you don't have any problem with finding or distinctive aromatic flavor of Thai basil as my experience Thai basil give a better taste and flavor. Anyway, just try out your way and let me know about your experience