recipe: mango chicken curry

din din yesterday, tweaked from Mango Chicken Curry at allrecipes.com. the reviews from allrecipes on the original recipe were mixed, but all the ingredients seemed scrumptious so what the hell.

ingredients list:
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 boneless chicken breast halves, diced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 2 tsp minced fresh gingerroot
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp chili oil
- 1 chopped peeled mango
- 1 can coconut milk (remembering to shake well!)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2-3 servings hot cooked rice
- salt, pepper, & garlic powder


to make: season chicken with salt, pepper, & garlic powder then sautee in olive oil on medium-high heat for (about) 3 min per side. when cooked, remove from pan and set aside on a warm plate. sautee onion, pepper, and garlic until soft. add in curry powder, ginger, cumin, cayanne, and chili oil and cook for an additional 2 minutes. add in chicken, then stir in coconut milk, mango, and tomato paste. bring to a boil, then simmer for 10-15 minutes. add cornstarch if needed to thicken sauce.


there were mixed reviews on this one at home, all directly proportional to the individual's love of curry (with the curry lover loving this most). since i'm a medium curry lover, i loved this medium high. the spice was just nice, but i was expecting a little more sweetness from all of the coconut milk & mango (as with the thai food, i NEED sweet & spicy mix). next time i think i'll add in something more potent with the coconut milk... maybe mango or agave nectar? or just a touch of straight sugar? also... will not use a white spoon to stir this... it's stained a horrifying yellow from the curryness, like nuclear highlighter juice. rating... 5.5 ****~?

bangkok bistro thai restaurant & martini bar

saturday night a bunch of us went to try the new thai place in colonie ny, Bangkok Bistro. i was excited for this place since 1) i'm always craving thai & 2) i love martinis.

i had a bit of sugar-tummy going into dinner (i had a coffee icecream and vodka milkshake shortly before leaving), but by the time i sat down i was ready to go. i ordered the Thai Tea & Coconut martini, which i was secretly hoping tasted like a Green Tea & Ginger tini that i had once at The Point, but it tasted more like coconut, which was... OK. i'm a bit biased though b/c 1) i'm not a huge fan of coconut and 2) i had another drink burned into my memory (kind of like thinking you're sipping water but downing a big gulp of sprite). putting that aside, the drink in and of itself was very tasty.

we had the Crab Angels as an app, which were "crispy fried dumplings stuffed with cream cheese and marinated crab", served with plum sauce. these tasted like standard crab rangoons (which does mean absolutely delish), just cuter presentation. the plum sauce was a great little dip dip... it reminded me of the spicy wonton sauce from Yips which i am kindof in love with. for dinner i had the Red Curry (red curry paste in coconut milk, slowly cooked with bamboo shoots, carrots & bell peppers) with Lamb.

the curry is served normally with their 1-star (mild) spicy rating, so i asked them to bump it up a notch which they did and then some. it got to burny mouth/runny nose level and tappered off right before ear burn level (that's my limit... once the ear burn is on it the pain usually overshadows the taste), which was just right. it has a slight sweetness to it that helped round out the heat. that and a little rice with each bite.

in short, i'd pop it 6.5 stars ******~. would def go back, particularly for $4 martini wednesdays.