Thai Green Chicken Curry (recipe)

I simply adore this meal. It’s one of my favourite meals, and anyone who’s visited Thailand has probably tried it. I got this recipe from my mother, and it tastes exactly like the green chicken curry I got on a weekly basis while living in Thailand, so I'm guessing it's authentic.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of chicken breast, cut into bit sized pieces
• 1 tb of olive oil
• 1 tb of green curry paste (store bought or home made, I use store bought, because let's face it, I'm not that industrious)
• 1 can of coconut milk or cream
• 1-2 tbs of fish sauce (depending on your taste)
• 1 tb of sugar
• 1 cup of peas
• 2 fresh kaffir lime leaves, cut into thin slivers
• 1 zucchini, cut into slices
  
• Thai basil (optional)

Preparation:

1. Brown the green curry in the olive oil in a large saucepan.
2. Cook the chicken in the browned curry paste.
3. Add the can of coconut milk/cream, fish sauce, sugar, continually stirring, until sugar has dissolved.
4. Add the peas, kaffir lime leaves, zucchini, and basil (if you're using it) and let simmer for 5 minutes. Serve over steamed Jasmine rice, with sliced tomatoes or cucumbers on the side.
   

Other Information:

I’ve been cooking this for the past two years, so I've changed this recipe around slightly from time to time. Sometimes I leave out the sugar, which then allows the curry to taste stronger, which isn’t for everyone, but I find it delicious. Sometimes you can add thin slices of chili peppers (Thai peppers are the best!) if you’re into some seriously spicy food. I’m also a big fan of adding more fish sauce then advised, because I adore the taste of fish sauce.

You may have trouble getting kaffir lime leaves, as certain states in the United States don’t allow them. I don’t know how hard it is to get them in other parts of the world. My mother told me that you can order them off of thaigrocer.com for a decent price, if you can’t find them in your local Asian market (Your normal western grocery store won’t have them. Don’t bother trying.). I’ve gone without the kaffir lime leaves on multiple occasions, but then the curry always tastes off, so I wouldn't advise it.