Curry Debacle

Tonight I decided to fix a pot of curry from a recipe in a newspaper column that I rather enjoy, "Table Talk" by Anne Kapler. It was a good recipe, and the only problem was that I live in a rural area. I went to the grocery store today, and they didn't carry coconut milk. In fact, the kind stock worker had never heard of coconut milk. The closest thing they had was coconut cream, which is a sweetened coconut designed for making pina coladas. I managed to find a can in which coconut was listed as the first ingredient, rather than sugar, and I decided to try it.

Once again, my willingness to try anything once got me into hot water. I was hoping the jalapenos might counter some of the sweetness, but I ended up with curried cauliflower, potato, and chickpea DESSERT. The worst part was that it smelled absolutely fabulous, exactly the way it would smell if it were made with unsweetened coconut milk. It smelled like I had made something good, and it turned out to be terrible.

When I reheat the leftovers, I will try adding plain yogurt and lemon juice. I think the fat squirrel in the back yard would be the perfect finishing touch for this curry debacle, but I would need my friend Elantu to kill it and dress it for me, because I am too squeamish.