The other day, the last question before my boy went to sleep was how the earthquake in Japan came to happen. Fortunately, geography was one of my favorites subjects when I was in school, so I managed to explain that off the cuff. But I was at a total loss with the Pluto question. Was that on the front pages of the newspapers back in 2006? I wonder.
It feels like I am sitting on the school bench again. And you know what? I am enjoying it. It’s random things that don’t seem very important in everyday life, as you run your errands. But it makes me sit down for a moment and engage my brain with something different. Something that goes beyond remembering what groceries need to be bought, the husband’s weekend work schedule, or organizing the family’s summer holiday.
It makes me stop and realize it is nice and cozy in my little cocoon. But there is a whole world out there that is amazing and full of wonders. You just have to open up to it. It’s not even a question of time. Changing from tunnel view to a wider outlook is all it takes.
Something that can be very psychological, are food cravings. For instance, if you always want something sweet after dinner, always need that caramel popcorn at the movies, as well as eating out of boredom or because you are under stress, these are psychological food cravings.
However, if you crave meat, your body probably tells you it needs protein. Craving veggies can point to a deficiency in vitamins. Those are physiological cravings. I am having a meat phase. It’s so severe, I even went to a local restaurant PR event with a burger tasting, to get my meat. I don’t know where my craving stems from. My running training has reduced itself to a minimum for various reasons. But since I had children, I stopped asking myself for reasons: it’s all phases. We don’t know where they come from, we don’t know when they go. But they will be over at some stage.
The chicken coconut curry probably ticks all boxes to satisfy physiological cravings: chicken for the protein, beans for the vitamins, and coconut milk and ground almonds for the fats. All good. Dig in.
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In a small bowl, combine onions, garlic, chili, curry powder, ginger and ground almonds. Mix and set aside.
In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add cardamom, cinnamon, cumin and coriander. Cook for one minute while stirring. Add the onion mixture and fry for 2-3 minutes while stirring. Add coconut milk, chicken and vegetable stock and let simmer, without a lid for about 45 minutes. A few minutes before the end of the cooking time add the green beans. Season with salt and stir in shelled peanuts. Serve with rice.
That looks delicious. I’m definitely craving some now. It’s a more Indian recipe isn’t it?
Bookmarked! Curry & chicken? My favs!!
Mary
Delightful Bitefuls
This looks awesome! I love the coconut curry combo 🙂
It was definitely crazy about Pluto being excluded! And I definitely fear having kids some day bc of questions like that. Thank goodness for Google 🙂
Sues
Delicious! I love that you’ve used ground almonds there too 🙂
You are so right about keeping your mind open and learning new things every day…it’s the route to a youthful outlook (and far less painful than Botox). I agree that we should listen to our bodies and a craving unless it’s for sweet stuff usually means something. Lovely recipe and pic as usual.
Wonderful post Anja. The only way I heard about Pluto’s demotion was from my son a few years back. I was unreasonably miffed.
my fav subjects all through high school was geography and science too. Science has and still does amaze and thrill me.
Interesting thoughts on food cravings. I sometimes crave sweets after meals and always crave veggies. I didn’t know I might be deficient in vitamins! I wonder why my veggie cravings never cease? I eat more than the rec servings every day.
P.s. Love this recipe! 😉
Yuuuuuuuummy! Nice, thick with lots of good stuff in it!
I took your wonderful base recipe for green curry and tweaked it to my current tastes (and refrigerator) by making it with vegetables instead of chicken, and it turned out to be mouthwateringly delicious!
I followed your recipe to the letter (almost), except I used crushed cardamom pods instead of powder and added thinly sliced red and green pepper and eggplant where you added chicken to your recipe. I then tossed in a fresh tomato along with the green beans at the end of the simmer– it was wonderful, just wonderful. Squeeze a bit of fresh lime and finish with cilantro– vegetarian dream. The almonds were such an unexpectedly perfect addition to the sauce.
@ culturallymisled
I will definitely try your vegetarian version of this. Sounds amazing, especially with the fresh tomato at the end.