Green Thai Chicken Curry

This is a simple and delicious Thai curry that you can customize to suit your taste for spiciness. To multiply the recipe for more guests, just add more chicken and veggies and use the whole can of coconut milk. The rest of the sauce ingredients do not need to be multiplied.

Serves 2

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into chunks
1 cup light coconut milk
1 tbsp Thai green curry paste (I used Thai Kitchen. Careful though, it's spicy!)
1 tsp agave syrup
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 kaffir lime leaves or a strip of lime peel (I use dried lime leaves, available at T&T market. Soak them in water for 30 mins before using to rehydrate).
1/2 fresh lime
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, cut into strips (I didn't use this but it adds nice colour)
1 cup snap peas, trimmed
1/4 small red onion, sliced
1 thai red chili, seeded and diced small

optional garnish:
small bunch fresh thai basil leaves, cut in half (thai basil is sweeter than regular basil but you could use regular basil as well)
small bunch fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 large fresh green chili pepper or 2 red thai chilis, cut into strips

directions:

1. In a fry pan, brown the chicken on both sides. It does not need to be cooked through at this point. Once browned, removed from heat, place in a bowl and set aside.

2. Add coconut milk to the pan and stir until heated. And curry paste and mix well. Do not allow the mixture to boil.

3. Add the fish sauce and lime leaves. Squeeze in juice from 1/2 fresh lime. Simmer sauce of 2-3 mins.

4. Add green beans and bell pepper and simmer for another 3-4 mins.

5. Add the chicken back to the pan along with the snap peas, onion and red thai chili. Simmer for another 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

6. Check the seasoning. If the sauce is too spicy, add agave nectar 1 tsp at a time until your desired level of spice is reached. The sweetness of the agave nectar will cut the spiciness of the curry paste. If your sauce is not spicy enough, add a bit more curry or another red thai chili.

7. Remove the lime leaves and discard.

7. Serve with jasmine rice. Garnish with basil, cilantro and more chilis.

Variations:

- Use red Thai curry paste instead of green
- Omit the chicken and add more veggies for a vegetarian dish
- Exchange green beans for carrots (or whatever veggies you would like!)
- Serve with rice vermicelli noodles instead of rice.

Did you know:

Left over coconut milk can be frozen for use later. Pour the extra milk into ice cube trays and place in freezer. Once coconut cubes are frozen, place in zip lock freezer bags and store in freezer until ready to use.