Curry and such

I did not truly taste curry until my friend from high school came home from his mission from Thailand. He made us all a delicious masman curry. I was in heaven. My dad served his mission in Holland and said it always smelled of curry and B.O so my mom never made it at home. I was deprived.

Since then, I have loved going to Thai and Indian restaurants. One of my favorite was in Prague (I felt really cool as I typed that). Then I bought an Indian cookbook for half off at the BYU bookstore. I drool when I look through it. But that's all I've done. All of the recipes are complicated (or so it seems), because of the many different spices they have to grind and honestly, I don't want to make ghee (clarified butter). So I do nothing but stare at recipes and pine after making these amazing spice blends at home someday. Today I made a huge step.

I have been eyeing Many Lands for years now. Never daring to step foot inside by myself. Today I was out of the curry my aunt had given me. Their family lived in Japan for a while so she knows a thing or two about Asian cuisine. So I visited websites, found out good brands of curries and set out. We first went to a newer Indian market on University Ave located next to Velour. SO MANY SPICES I WANTED TO CRY FROM HAPPINESS. I can buy so many whole cloves, cardamom and garam masala blends for SO cheap. We bought some curry, garam masala and Indian cookies. Better than nabisco, I assure you. Then we went to Many Lands. Although we did not understand many of the labels I was again in heaven. Rows of different soy sauces, pastes and noodles. Many were cheaper then the "asain aisles" in grocery stores. We bought some green curry paste, rice noodles, and the masman curry my friend made for me.

Now my favorite Thai coconut curry soup is simmering away and I feel brave enough to maybe try a recipe or two in my Indian cookbook.

Now Tanner knows another way to make me happy, give me ten dollar to spend in either of these stores.

Recipe for the soup:
(I found this a couple years ago through tastespotting.com and then lost it. I've modified it and make it from my head now.

1 bunch Green onions
1 Red pepper
1-2 T (I just eyeball it) Curry powder
2-3 Breasts of Chicken
1 Can Coconut milk
Chicken broth 6-8 cups
Cilantro
RIce

All of this can be adjusted to your party size.

1. Saute about one bunch of green onions and 1 red pepper in a little bit of olive oil
2. Add chicken broth, chicken, and curry powder. Simmer simmer!! Let it go for a while (30-40 min, the chicken will fall apart)
3. Add the coconut milk and cilantro at the end. (Sometimes I don't add the cilantro, depending on my mood.
4. Serve over rice (jasmine is the best)

Yum!