My Kitchen In Harlem: It's getting warmer...

From the moment I stepped out the door - the day smacked of, it's going to be a good one. The days are warmer and longer, people are out on the streets chatting, pretty girls in pretty dresses and cherry blossom trees in bloom. Not a heavy coat, scarf or rain boot in sight. The trees that I thought might never again have leaves and flowers even have birds in them again. I walked past one little bird and it started up this really pretty song and I thought right back at you little birdie.

Then I saw the hearse.

Well if you wanted an example of life not being fair, there's a good one. Imagine it, you survive a brutal New York winter only to die early in the spring. If these things are predestined as some believe - then please don't make me endure a New York winter and finish me off in the spring. Knock me off halfway through through the autumn. Please.

This all happened on my downtown to Chinatown. The photo at the top are the rice noodles that I ate for lunch while watching the games of handball. All of those noodles for $1.35. Another reason to love Chinatown. We were having our friends, Sarah and Jay over for what was supposed to be a farewell dinner and I was cooking Thai. Sarah and Jay both play the trombone and Sarah has been chosen to play in an orchestra in Brazil.Bureaucracy unfortunately, has played havoc with their lives and instead of kicking it up with Brazilians this summer and putting the Portuguese language classes to full use - looks like they'll be Stateside a little longer. Which is great for me, but bitterly disappointing for them. They'll go, I know they will, just a little later.

On the menu was Mussaman curry of chicken, - Sarah's favorite and the most complex and delicious of Thai curries. Thai food is one of the most sophisticated and balanced cuisines on the planet. I have been to Thailand many times and taken cooking lessons there on two separate occasions. David Thompson in his outstanding cookbook Thai Food gives a little history to the dish. The original dish used just dried spices, potatoes and onions and found it's origins in Persia. It was brought to the Court of Ayuthyia in the sixteenth century from Sheik Ahmed who was there with the first Persian envoy to Thailand. He obviously liked what he saw as Sheik Ahmed remained in Thailand and established a family called the Bunnark's. Over time this family's power rivalled that of the Royal Family. This recipe is from Jip Bunnark.

I'm not going to lie, it's time consuming, it's a good idea to make double the amount of paste and freeze it for another day, because it is delicious. One last thing, if you haven't got a good Thai Book - I couldn't recommend David Thompson's book more highly, it is the best one on the market and worth every penny.

3 chicken legs
kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
oil for deep frying
8 small pickling onions or red shallots, peeled
4-5 cups coconut milk
5 green cardamon pods, roasted
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
4 bay leaves roasted
3 cups coconut cream
2 tablespoons - 1 cup palm sugar
3-5 tablespoons fish sauce
2-5 tablespoons tamarind water
1 cup pineapple juice

For the paste
5 dried red chilies, deseeded, soaked and drained
4 tablespoons chopped red shallot
5 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped galangal
3 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
1 tablespoon scraped and chopped cilantro (coriander) root
large pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, roasted and ground
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
5 cloves, roasted and ground
1/2 nutmeg coarsely pounded and briefly roasted
2 sheaths of mace, roasted and ground
1 inch piece of cassia bark, roasted and ground
4 cardamon pods, roasted and ground.

(I didn't use the mace or cassia bark and I only used one teaspoon of ground nutmeg and it all still worked.)

Cut the chicken into four - it's a good idea to use a cleaver. If you don't have a cleaver, cut through the flesh all the way around the bone so it is exposed and then use the heel of your knife to cut through the bone cleanly. This way you won't get splinters of bone in your curry. Better still, ask the butcher to cut the legs into four for you.)

Pour over enough kecap manis over the chicken to marinate it. You don't have to do this step but the chicken goes a lovely golden color after deep frying when you marinate it first. I marinated mine for about two hours.

Peel and quarter your potatoes and then soak them in water in order to extract any excess starch.

To make the paste, combine the chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal, lemongrass and cilantro (coriander) root, and roast in a wok with a little water until brown and fragrant. Puree these roasted ingredients in a blender and then add the salt and roasted ground spices until smooth.

Dry the chicken off really well, and deep fry until golden. Drain on paper towel and do the same with the potatoes and onions. Transfer the chicken to a large pot or fry pan and cover it with coconut milk. Add the cardamon pods, peanuts and bay leaves. After about ten minutes, check the chicken, if it's almost cooked then add the potatoes and onions.

Now in a wok or frying pan, crack the coconut cream. I did try and take photos of this but unfortunately they didn't turn out. Put the coconut cream in the pan and turn the heat up quite high. What you are doing is separating the oil out to fry the paste in and the solids give that lovely coconut flavor. This takes time, the coconut cream will start to look curdled and then you start seeing the oil separate out.

Add the paste, turn down the heat and simmer for at least ten minutes. Stir this often as it will stick and you don't want it to burn. The paste will become increasingly oily. When it is really sizzling and oily add the palm sugar and allow it to caramelize. This gives the curry a lovely color. You add as much palm sugar as you like, if you like it sweet then add a lot, you know what to do.

The amount of fish sauce and tamarind water that you use will depend on how sweet your dish is. Add the paste to the chicken and potatoes, mixing well and add the pineapple juice - it should taste sweet, sour and salty.