Fifty Weeks, Fifty Curries: Week Forty-Seven: Annas Curry
I offer no excuse. Never retreat, never surrender.
(Also, I've been really busy on weekends for weeks. So)
I'm a bit sad that because of all the delays, we didn't get to make this curry any earlier in the year. Now that fall has fallen--literally, it went from 27°C one weekend to 14°C the following one--it feels like we should be making pumpkin curry, or something else that's a bit more appropriate. But no, we didn't quite have enough time to finish all the fruit curries before we ran out of summer. Not that there's a problem with eating fruit curries in fall, obviously. But it's just not quite appropriate.
100% organic. None of those non-carbon-based coconut flakes here.
Do you like piña coladas? Because if you do, you'll like this curry.
(Your position on rain is irrelevant to this blog post, but I will stand out in the rain with you if you like
)
The primary ingedients were a ton of pineapple, a ton of shredded coconut, some coconut milk, and...yeah, that's honestly about it. There were some spices and chilis in here but not enough to actually affect the taste at all. It was warm rather than hot, but fortunately not too sweet. softlykarou told me that she added some lime juice to cut through the sweetness now that our sweet teeth (tooths?) have dulled with age, and the end result was pretty great. Not particularly substantial, though. This is more the kind of thing I'd want as an appetizer on a hot summer day when sitting out on the veranda. Had we a veranda, which we do not for the obvious reason that Chicago's weather makes it a terrible idea for eight months of the year.
We had chicken with it, which went quite well with the muted spicy-sweet taste of the curry. I can definitely see adding chicken directly to it to make something really great, for someone who isn't specifically trying to eat vegetarian curries. Or maybe fish.
How about those spices, huh?
Honestly this curry took so little time to make it feels odd to even write about it. One thing I did do was try to balance the sweet with the acid. The original recipe assumes that your pineapple is sour. The pineapple we purchased was very sweet so I added the tiniest amount of sugar and ended up tossing in some lime juice as it caramelized in the pan. I think the curry wouldn't have been very complex if I hadn't, which is the fault of our produce and not the recipe. I like it! I'd make it again for a side dish and maybe add a few more chilies for heat.
Spiced Pineapple is my reggae Great Big Sea cover band.
When I was in Japan, at the very first work party softlykarou's coworkers invited me too, they suggested that I head off and get a drink. I asked them how to say "pineapple juice" in Japanese--if you're curious, the answer is パイナップルジュース)--went off and ordered some, then came back. The vice-principal asked if he could try some, I offered it to him, and he took a small sip and then make a lemon-eating face and say, "甘い!" (amai, "sweet"). I used to eat that up, all the time. I also used to drink gallons of fruit juice a week, and now we're cutting our pineapple curry with lime juice so it's not so sweet. Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
Though fruit juice by the gallon is not that great for you, so it's probably for the best.
Huh. Speaking of, I could actually see the sauce of this curry as a kind of warming coconut/pineapple drink. Maybe add some rum and come full circle.
That's actually kind of tempting to me now--it can replace the amazake that doesn't seem to exist outside of Japan. Barring the one time I left the sake out too long and it turned white and cloudy, but that was more of an unexpected bonus kind of thing.
The best part of this meal was the chicken skin. We used to get it as an appetizer in Japan. That's a thing. Look it up.
Now I really want to try this as a winter warming drink. I mean, it'd just be "spiced coconut milk" but doesn't that sound good?
Since all thoughts of the actual curry have been driven out of my head, I shall bring this to a close.
Would I Eat It Again?: Yes! Though the recipe is rather small, so we don't actually have any leftovers this time.
Do I Prefer It to the Usual Thai Curry?: No, this is definitely a side dish and not the main course.
What Would I Change?: As it is it's fine, but I am curious how it would serve as a drink or with more protein in it.
(Also, I've been really busy on weekends for weeks. So)
I'm a bit sad that because of all the delays, we didn't get to make this curry any earlier in the year. Now that fall has fallen--literally, it went from 27°C one weekend to 14°C the following one--it feels like we should be making pumpkin curry, or something else that's a bit more appropriate. But no, we didn't quite have enough time to finish all the fruit curries before we ran out of summer. Not that there's a problem with eating fruit curries in fall, obviously. But it's just not quite appropriate.
100% organic. None of those non-carbon-based coconut flakes here.
Do you like piña coladas? Because if you do, you'll like this curry.
(Your position on rain is irrelevant to this blog post, but I will stand out in the rain with you if you like
)
The primary ingedients were a ton of pineapple, a ton of shredded coconut, some coconut milk, and...yeah, that's honestly about it. There were some spices and chilis in here but not enough to actually affect the taste at all. It was warm rather than hot, but fortunately not too sweet. softlykarou told me that she added some lime juice to cut through the sweetness now that our sweet teeth (tooths?) have dulled with age, and the end result was pretty great. Not particularly substantial, though. This is more the kind of thing I'd want as an appetizer on a hot summer day when sitting out on the veranda. Had we a veranda, which we do not for the obvious reason that Chicago's weather makes it a terrible idea for eight months of the year.
We had chicken with it, which went quite well with the muted spicy-sweet taste of the curry. I can definitely see adding chicken directly to it to make something really great, for someone who isn't specifically trying to eat vegetarian curries. Or maybe fish.
How about those spices, huh?
Honestly this curry took so little time to make it feels odd to even write about it. One thing I did do was try to balance the sweet with the acid. The original recipe assumes that your pineapple is sour. The pineapple we purchased was very sweet so I added the tiniest amount of sugar and ended up tossing in some lime juice as it caramelized in the pan. I think the curry wouldn't have been very complex if I hadn't, which is the fault of our produce and not the recipe. I like it! I'd make it again for a side dish and maybe add a few more chilies for heat.
Spiced Pineapple is my reggae Great Big Sea cover band.
When I was in Japan, at the very first work party softlykarou's coworkers invited me too, they suggested that I head off and get a drink. I asked them how to say "pineapple juice" in Japanese--if you're curious, the answer is パイナップルジュース)--went off and ordered some, then came back. The vice-principal asked if he could try some, I offered it to him, and he took a small sip and then make a lemon-eating face and say, "甘い!" (amai, "sweet"). I used to eat that up, all the time. I also used to drink gallons of fruit juice a week, and now we're cutting our pineapple curry with lime juice so it's not so sweet. Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
Though fruit juice by the gallon is not that great for you, so it's probably for the best.
Huh. Speaking of, I could actually see the sauce of this curry as a kind of warming coconut/pineapple drink. Maybe add some rum and come full circle.
That's actually kind of tempting to me now--it can replace the amazake that doesn't seem to exist outside of Japan. Barring the one time I left the sake out too long and it turned white and cloudy, but that was more of an unexpected bonus kind of thing.
The best part of this meal was the chicken skin. We used to get it as an appetizer in Japan. That's a thing. Look it up.
Now I really want to try this as a winter warming drink. I mean, it'd just be "spiced coconut milk" but doesn't that sound good?
Since all thoughts of the actual curry have been driven out of my head, I shall bring this to a close.
Would I Eat It Again?: Yes! Though the recipe is rather small, so we don't actually have any leftovers this time.
Do I Prefer It to the Usual Thai Curry?: No, this is definitely a side dish and not the main course.
What Would I Change?: As it is it's fine, but I am curious how it would serve as a drink or with more protein in it.