simple sweet yellow curry

as i have told you before, i am not a big fan of spicy food. that's why when it comes to curry, getting the one that says sweet is clearly the only option for me. a few days ago, shawn took me to this thai/lao place down the street from our old house. it was a nice surprise because everything there was cheap and good. after eating, i had another craving for another dish that i regularly get at thai places, sweet yellow curry.

the sweet, salty, creamy and tangy flavor of this dish always hits the mark for me. add some steamed rice into the picture and hell, we're good to go! another thing i love about this dish is that you can add as much vegetables you want in it or you can just use chicken if you want. i've tried making this before with just chicken and potatoes and it was still good. it's not really hard to do, simple ingredients and simple instructions and before you know it, you'll be eating curry at home without taking a trip to you favorite thai place.

what you need:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium sized onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, finely diced (i added more to mine because i love ginger)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1 1/2 tbsp yellow curry powder
2 skinless and boneless chicken breast, diced (we want it to be done quickly so this is the best type of chicken to use)
3 cups potatoes, diced
2 cups carrots, diced
1 can of coconut milk
3 cups of water or chicken broth
salt and pepper
tomatoes, cut into wedges*
cilantro*
red bell pepper, julienned*

what to do:
1. heat up oil over medium heat and saute red bell pepper and onions until translucent, add garlic, ginger and bay leaves.
2. when ginger gets tender, add carrots and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. add chicken and sprinkle sugar, fish sauce and yellow curry powder into the pot. cook for about 3 minutes.
4. add coconut milk and chicken broth. let it simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender. remove from heat.
5. add tomatoes and cilantro if you want and serve over steamed white rice.

notes:

• i add a pinch salt and pepper everytime i add a new ingredient into the pot. this is to release the juices of the ingredient i just added. i also make sure to taste as i go because you don't want the dish to get over salted or bland.
• if you want the curry broth to be thinnner or thicker, use less or more of the chicken broth.
• want it a little bit spicy? half a teaspoon of cayenne would do the trick.

* optional