(From rec.food.recipes) I made something truly wonderful tonight, the tastiest thing I've made in a long time. I'm not quite sure what to call it, but it's rather hot, and rather sweet, and I want more of it! All measurements listed below should be considered mere guidelines, as I never measure anything, and didn't prepare it that way. In short, I'm just guessing. Let good taste be your guide. This is a very hot (in the "picante" rather than the "caliente" sense) dish, but you can vary its heat. See the WARNING at the end. Green Tropical Curry (Thai Style) This will serve enough for 4 ravenously hungry, highly active young men, or else 6 or more normal humans if you adjust the rice accordingly. Serve with a chilled white wine or fresh fruit juice, and plenty of ice water. This dish is extremely nutritious, and will easily fulfil your day's requirements of fiber, protein, and number and variety of required vegetable servings when prepared as directed. It is extremely low in fat -- except for the small amounts of peanuts used (which is optional) and the coconut milk, which you really don't want to leave out due to its essential flavor; you may, but it's a different dish then. Don't worry too much about the small amount fat (that each person would receive) in it -- recent research suggests that the chains aren't as hard for the body to deal with as saturated fat from animals. In any event, you won't end up getting very much fat from this per serving anyway. This is essentially a dairy-free vegetarian (vegan) dish -- *except* for the nam pla (fish sauce), ubiquitous in certain forms of Asian cooking. If this bothers you, feel free to leave it out entirely, or use one of the substitute recipes for it occasionally posted to the net. [ Items marked with a (*) are probably most easily acquired in an Asian market. They are not considered optional, as they convey unique flavors, but don't sweat it if you can't get them. ] Step 0: Start the rice cooking. It will take 45 minutes. 3 cups or so rice (enough for everyone to have more rice than food); I prefer to use black rice (*) for this, or else you can use brown rice. You may use white rice (jasmine rice is both nice and traditional) if you want, although you do lose the fiber benefits of the whole grain -- adjust cooking times appropriately if so, as white rice doesn't take as long. Step 1: combine the following in a very large, deep frying pan, stir thoroughly, and heat through: 4 cups (or so) hot mango sauce [recipe follows this one] 1 T freshly ground coriander seed 1 T freshly ground cumin seed (cominos) 2+ T freshly ground galanga root (*) or 1 T dried powder of the same (also called "laos" or "kha") 2+ T fresh ginger root, cut into longish slivers 6-8 lime leaves, preferably kaffir lime (*) 1 14-oz can of coconut milk, 1 can of water 4 T tamari or soy sauce (or more to taste) 2 T nam pla (fish sauce) [OPTIONAL] (*) (or more to taste) Step 2: add the following and cook only until brightly colored and crispy: Lots of assorted, fresh vegetables, such as: brocolli zucchini sweet peppers or mild chiles (red preferred in both cases) red and/or green onion shitake or cloud ear mushrooms water chestnuts bamboo shoots snow peas green peas carrots etc. (I used the first six tonight; what important here is to vary the colors and textures involved, but green should dominate with bits of red and/or orange added for a nice effect.) Step 3: one to two minutes before serving, add these: 1 large bunch fresh basil [holy or thai basil (*) preferred], chopped coursely 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped coursely Step 4: spread over rice on plates, then serve with chopped dry-roasted peanuts to sprinkle at will [OPTIONAL] extra sprigs of cilantro for garnish on side HOT MANGO SAUCE This will probably make more than you need for the preceding curry. Save whatever you don't use, for it is an excruciatingly delicious sauce, suitable for dipping vegetables or tortilla chips, as enchilada sauce, in cool summer salads, or atop grilled fish or poultry. 4 T dry-roasted peanuts 3 T nam pla (*) [OPTIONAL] 1 T dark sesame oil (chile sesame oil ok) [OPTIONAL] juice of one lime, freshly squeezed 1 large head garlic, peeled (or 2 small heads) 1 quite large chunk of ginger root, peeled (maybe 6 T?) 3 habanero or 5-6 thai or 8-9 serrano or jalapen~o chiles [SEE BELOW] 4-6 tomatillos skinned pieces of 6-8 ripe mangos and/or 10-12 papayas 2 T sugar or honey (if using fresh fruit not packed in light syrup) 1/2 bunch (or more) fresh cilantro Put these in a blender in the order listed, waiting to add the next ingredient until the previous one is thoroughly blended. The end product should be a smooth, slighly greenish puree, the green mainly from the cilantro. This should make 4-6 cups. <*** WARNING ***> Be very careful dealing with chiles. These are serious stuff. Seed and remove membrane to decrease hotness, but leave them in if you like more of it. Very few restaurants will make a sauce as hot as this one even if you beg them. While it is conceivable that some folks addicted to the rush of the chiles might even want a 4th habanero, if you don't normally just die for very hot food, cut the number of chiles in half or maybe even down to just one third of what's listed there; just don't leave them out altogether. The habaneros, while having a delightful flavor, are incredibly potent: love and fear them; Never touch any chiles' cut flesh to your hands, lest you later touch eyes, lips, nose, or other sensitive membranes; consider wearing gloves when dealing with them. IMPORTANT: Do *NOT* poke your face in the blender after the step with the chiles; they release capsaicin (the hot stuff) into the air, and you'll get it in your eyes and lungs if you aren't quite careful for this stage.