In Northern Thailand, kao soi is a meal for one, served up in an enormous bowl and garnished with a playful tangle of crunchy egg noodles fried crisp for a contrast in texture to the tender noodles and smooth, sunny-colored sauce. The standard condiments include Chinese-style ground chilies in oil, chopped pickled cabbage and wedges of lime. *** To make crispy noodle nests, you’ll need about ½ lb thin fresh egg noodles. Heat about 2 cups vegetable oil in a wok or small, deep skillet to about 375 F. Carefully add a handful of noodles, let it sizzle and brown a few seconds, turn gently with tongs, and transfer the “nest” to a platter to cool. Serve in individual soup bowls with chopsticks or forks for the noodles, and big spoons for the delicious curry sauce. Recipe courtesy of Nancie McDermott.
This distinctive and tasty authentic curry relies heavily on the special blend of spices, known as Cape Malay curry powder. Cape Malay curries are famous for their fruity and full-bodied flavours, making good use of local colourful vegetables or meat and fish, they are not as hot as the curries used in the Indian kitchen. This “secret” recipe hails from one of the steamy kitchens in the vibrant Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town; it was on a recipe sheet given to my mum from a spice shop in that wonderful area, in the 1950’s. The Bo-Kaap area is a treat; the houses are painted gorgeous bright colours that won’t fail to make you smile, there are always children playing in the streets and the haunting call of the muezzin will remind you of exotic destinations such as Istanbul and Cairo. And then there’s the smell of spices that wafts through open doorways and comes rushing out at you as you walk past Atlas Trading, the local spice emporium. You might be just minutes from the centre of elegant and sophisticated Cape Town, but you’ll feel as though you’re in a different country. Serve this curry with yellow rice and a variety of sambals and atjars.
Indian curry chicken Fiji style. There are so many different styles of curry, this is just another one from the lovely island of Fiji. Our curies are a little different. Please share what you think of it.
My husband and I have very differing tastes in food but this one dish we both love equally. It was adapted from a Bon Appetit magazine and is nice enough to have on special occasions. The preparation is suprisingly easy for such an elegant dish. Serve with white rice.
This recipe was inspired by a dish I received in my “Meatless Monday” weekly emails. I changed it around ALOT by adding a few more interesting spices and served it over basmati rice simmered with turmeric. I often make Indian curries using chickpeas, but this recipe added a couple tsp of peanut butter, which I thought sounded really interesting. Please adjust the heat according to your tastes. One small red chili can be substituted for the red chili powder (please note the red chili powder is like cayenne pepper, not the spice blend for making Mexican chilli!)
