Musaman curry is very easy to make and oh so delicious. It can be made vegetarian or with chicken beef or even Shrimp if you like

If you are not familiar with Thai food, this is a great one to start with. It is very easy to make and I’ve never met anyone yet who did not eat all of it. Even my kids will eat it without complaining one bit. Savannah actually walked into the kitchen today when I was cooking it and said "What is that delicious smell!" and was excited to eat it. How’s that for a recommendation!

It is kind of like a peanut sauce Thai stew.

There are a few specialty ingredients, they are very cheep and last forever, but you do have to have them to make the Musaman.

MUSAMAN CURRY: 4-6 serving depending on if you are serving anything else with it.

2 Tbls vegetable oil

3 Tbls Red Curry Paste (specialty stores will carry this)

1 Can Coconut Milk (about 14 oz)

6-7 oz of Water

1 Lbs Chicken – or less if you are trying to conserve. It really tastes just as good with or without it. If you do not use the chicken, increase the potatoes by 50%.

2 Medium potatoes (if you are using meat – 3 if you are going vegetarian)

2 Large Carrots

2 Tbls Fish Sauce (specialty store)

4+ Tbls Sugar

2 Tbls Tamarind Liquid (specialty store)

1/3 Cup peanuts

1/3 Cup Cashews (I like the cashews better and would even just do all cashews if I was not worried about the price at all. Cashews can be more expensive than peanuts.

PREP WORK

Take the potatoes, carrots, and then the chicken into 1 inch cubes.

Now your ready to cook

Over medium heat in a large pot with a lid, add the oil and the curry paste. Heat until you can smell the curry and it starts to bubble. Stir constantly.

Add 1/3 of the coconut milk and stir into the curry. Keep stirring until it is mixed together and starts to bubble again.

Add the chicken and stir fry until the outside of the chicken is no longer pinkish

Now, add the rest of the coconut milk, and while that is heating through fill the coconut milk can half full of water, and wish it around so you get all the milk you can, then poor it into the mix as well. Keep Stirring.

Now put in the potatoes and carrots (you should add them right as the pink goes away in the chicken so you will need to have them cut before hand. If you try to chop them now the chicken will get over cooked waiting for you to get done.

Add the fish sauce, sugar, tamarind, and peanuts and cashews.

The potatoes will stick up above the liquid a little. They will get covered as it cooks more.

Stir all together and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it go for about 25 more minutes.

Now remove from heat

You can eat it an start enjoying it right now, or you can save it for later. The longer it waits the better the flavors will mix. It is kind of like clam chowder, it should age about 24 hours before serving. But if you cannot resist, you can still enjoy it now. This make as a great hold over meal for those busy days when you still want to eat something delicious but fast.

This has just a bit of a kick to it, but not bad at all. If you are a little more sensitive to the spice you can reduce the amount of curry used.

Be Healthy – Enjoy Life!

Matthew Stearmer

Typically I’m a meat eater. I know that it is not always the best for me – but I love it. So setting to out to make a vegetarian meal was a stretch. But I happen to buy the wrong ingredient for another recipe I was making and thus ended up with a bunch of Bok Choy, and a desire to be a little more vegetarian all within a few days of each other.

After reading a book called Food Matter by Mark Bitten I had decided to cut back and move a little more to the herbivore side of the spectrum than I have been in the past.

Of course that presents some challenges.

I’ve started to develop a taste for veggies, but in my "previous life" they were designed to accentuate the meet, they were not supposed to be the main course. So this is going to take an adjustment in both my cooking habits and my taste bud preferences.

I found a base recipe for Bok Choy online and as always modified it a little to suite my more discerning pallet:)

For not having any meat in it, I have to say I was quite pleased. Even the left over tasted good the next day and I find myself willing to put it on my list of staple foods. This is an especially good recipe for weight loss.

I hope you will enjoy it!

Bok Choy Stir Fy:

Ingredients

1) Vegetable Oil – about 2 Tbls

2) Ginger – 2-3 slices or 1tsp (more if you like it)

3) Bok Choi – 1 whole large plant, or 4 smaller ones (I’m told they are sweeter)

4) Soy Sauce – 2 Tbls

5) Sugar – 1Tbls

6) Salt – 1/4 tsp (or to taste, I personally do not use very much)

7) Water – 1/4 water (more or less as needed)

Sesame Oil – 1 Tbls (more or less to taste and diet needs)

Put the veg oil and ginger in pot and heat it over medium heat until the ginger begins to smell nice

While the oil and ginger are heating cut up the Bok Choy. First, cut the leaves off so they are separate from the stalk (there and be a little stalk on them, that is fine). Now, chop off the bottom of the stalk. You’ll have a lot of large celery looking stalks. Cut them width wise so they are smaller pieces.

Now take the leaves and cut them diagonally (they will be a little longer to begin with, but will shrink in the heat).

Once the ginger is smelling nice, put the stalks in first. Stir fry until they are tender. 2-4 minutes depending on the heat level. Move it up to Med-High

Now add the leaves. Stir fry again for another 2-3 minutes until the leaves have reduced in size and are soft.

Add in the water and let it simmer for another 1-2 minutes

Stir in the Sesame oil  – and now you’re done!

It is best fresh, but it will be decent eating for a day or two after as well.

Enjoy!

Be Healthy – Enjoy Life

Matt Stearmer

Here is my Swedish Chef installment as well.