[Sca-cooks] OOP - curries

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach SableSwanHerald at aol.com:
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>Greetings, all:
>
>Some friends and I were discussing over Thai food the other night the great
>variations one met in the creation of spice blends under the label of
>"curry".  One of my friends pointed out that any spice blend could be a
>"curry", and we could make one right there using salt, pepper and red pepper
>flakes.
>
>I'm curious as to how many of you have made curry blends on your own, and
>what combinations of ingredients you used.
>
>Berengaria
>in the process of making chicken curry with coriander, cumin, ginger and red
>pepper

The inevitable basis for my favorite curries, which are Burmese, is a
caramelized paste of onion, garlic, ginger, and turmeric, to which is
usually added toasted, dried shrimp paste. Other spices can be added,
but they tend to be fairly simplistic, I gather; mostly ground red
chili and cilantro stems or cleaned roots (if available). Vinegar,
coconut milk or a tomato product are common additions. My absolute
favorite is the hot shrimp curry with tomato and cilantro, with just
a bit of the de-emulsified cooking oil on top.

Adamantius