Green Chicken and Veggie Curry Recipe

Before I give you the recipe, please note it is important for you to taste as you go along and modify as necessary.  I will try to be as exact as possible and tell you where I made errors and what I would do differently, as well.  I am not known for measuring though, and that handicaps me because I can only give you a general idea of what I did.

Oh, and the inspiration for this particular meal came from a cookbook called Perfect Thai that I picked up in the discount section of some big chain bookstore that no longer exists.

Ingredients:
1 TBSP vegetable or peanut oil (I would like to try 1/2 veggie and 1/2 sesame)
1 onion, quartered and sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely or 1 tsp pre-chopped garlic
2-3 TBSP Thai green curry paste (I used 1 TBSP + 1.5 tsp and hubby still called it medium in heat -        brand: Maesri Green Curry Paste from Thailand)
28 fl oz - 800 ml - 1&3/4 cup - 2 cans coconut milk (I used Thai Kitchen Lite Coconut Milk)
3/4 pint - 150 ml - 2/3 cup chicken stock (I used Kitchen Basics brand because I know it's g-free)
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves (I did not have these so I left them out)
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes (recipe called for 4, but I only had 2 and I added the veggies instead)
A 2.5 Litre corningware bowl full of the following frozen veggies (you can sub in or out any of the following or use chopped up fresh veggies):
- 1/2 a bag of california blend
- 2/3 Birds Eye pepper stir fry (no sauce - just peppers/onions/etc)
- 1/2 bag sliced yellow squash
- 1/3 large bag of baby carrots
- 1/2 bag of green beans
1 can of sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can of bamboo shoots (optional, I thought of this afterwards)
1 can of water chestnuts (optional, I thought of this afterwards)
1/2 TBSP fish sauce (used Tiparos brand; original recipe called for 1 full TBSP; half the amount was still too much. Next time I will add 1 tsp at a time.)
2 TBSP Thai soy sauce (I used Tamari G-free brand)
Grated rind and juice of 1/2 lime (I didn't have any limes but I had lime juice - in one of those plastic limes - and I used 2 tsp originally and added several squirts at the end)
1 tsp jaggery or soft light brown sugar (I had to add a random extra bit at the end to mellow out the fish sauce.)
Cornstarch for thickening sauce
4 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro to garnish (Left it out because I didn't have it)

Method:
Defrost your frozen veggies (and drain extra water) or chop up fresh veggies if that's what you choose to use.

Heat the oil in a wok (a good wok is necessary and the oil must be VERY hot when you start).  Stir-fry the onion and garlic for 1-2 minutes, until starting to soften.  Add the curry paste and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add the coconut milk, stock, and lime leaves, bring to a boil and add the chicken and veggies.  Reduce the heat and let simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is tender.  (Your cooking time may increase if you're using fresh veggies, depending on the type. Your chicken should cook for a minimum of 15-20 minutes. I added the extra time because I kept adding coconut milk and dropping the temperature, and I wanted my veggies to soak in the juices as much as possible so they tasted less frozen, which worked.)

Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, lime rind and juice, and sugar.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved.  If the sauce is too thin, thicken slightly with cornstarch.  Serve immediately.

Option: garnish with chopped cilantro.

My observations:
I ate it without a starch - kind of like a soup, hubby ate it over rice.

It's too spicy hot for Z to eat.  I would rank this as medium.  Hubby said it was not hot, but he eats habeneros like they are candy.  It made me cough a little, but I think I'm a pansy in the heat department.

Maesri brand of Thai green curry paste is what made this dish.  It is sold by the pound in our local Asian market store in a small fat white bucket with a crappy label slapped on.  Honestly, I think I could have put almost anything in that wok and it would have come out tasty just because that brand of curry paste is SO good.  The brand also makes red curry paste, which is equally yummy and authentic.

Be very careful with the fish sauce.  I don't know if it's just the type of brand we have or what, but it is very strong and it's very easy to use too liberally.  Less is more, and add to taste.  Otherwise you run the risk of making the whole thing taste like a slightly rotting salty fish.  Another note: not all fish sauce are gluten free, much like oyster sauce.

The original recipe did not have any veggies except for the sliced onion.

As you can guess, this was an on the fly dish.  Hubby had a fresh whole chicken that needed to be used so he deboned and skinned the breasts for me and used the rest in Filipino Adobo.  You probably could use defrosted chicken breasts if you wanted.  I grabbed all the open bags of frozen veggies in the freezer, threw them in the 2.5 litre corning ware bowl - there was enough to fill the whole thing up, defrosted them, drained them, and threw them in with the chicken.  The original recipe called for 1/2 the coconut milk but it wasn't enough to cover the chicken and the veggies and I was afraid my chicken wouldn't cook properly.  Plus the sauce was too spicy hot so the extra coconut milk added the extra liquid volume I needed and cooled down the dish to an edible level for me.