I finally used some of my yellow curry paste last night and it was truly incredible. I do not often say that about my food. I am always tweaking recipes and thinking about how it could be better. Well, it I don’t think it gets better than this. Make this on a day when you want to pour nourishing, blissful, satisfying love into your friends and family. This is so quick and easy if you have already made the curry paste.

ingredients

• 2 tbsp ghee or other fat(oil, butter, a mixture of both)
• 3-4 cubes yellow curry paste(3 is totally sufficient, 4 is decadent)
• 2-3 shallots, diced chunky(if you didn’t put any in the curry paste)
• 1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced longways, then cut strips in half at a jaunty angle
• 2-3 sweet potatoes, cubed(& peeled if not organic)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 quart fish or shrimp stock or water
• 1 side of salmon(I used wild sockeye), skin removed, and cubed
• optional garnish; 1-2 cups cashews toasted with sea salt and fennel seeds
• optional garnish; cilantro and lime
• optional garnish; salmon crackling
• optional; serve over rice

process

• heat ghee over medium high heat
• throw in shallots & sautée for 1 minute
• add curry paste & sautée 1 minute
• throw in bell pepper & sweet potatoes- sautée for another minute
• pour in stock and coconut milk
• cover and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
• when sweet potatoes are cooked, but still firm(about 15 minutes or so), add salmon
• after about 3 minutes, turn the fire off

garnishes

For the salmon skin, make sure the scales are removed. If not, rubbing the skin the wrong way with the blunt side of your knife, or a spoon) works well. From here, you can crisp them up in a cast iron skillet on medium low heat. Start with the meaty, oily side first, and cook a few minutes per side. Let cool on a paper towel. You can also bake them at 450°F on a pan with a rack for about 8 minutes. When serving, crunch them up over the soup into appealing sizes and shapes

For the cashews, you can just throw some in a hot cast iron pan with a little sea salt, if you don’t have fennel seeds. If you do use any kind of whole seed spice when toasting nuts, you will need to toss the nuts in a little oil or ghee first, so they stick. Do not walk away or they will burn. Shake pan and or stir every 30-45 seconds. Once the seeds start popping(or sans seeds, when the cashews turn golden brown), take them off the fire.

The fennel seeds do add a really nice flavor. I wanted to put fresh fennel bulb in with the shallots, but I didn’t have any, so this was my hack. I just love fennel with salmon and cream-based soups and sauces. This whole dish is reminiscent of a chowder I use to make with salmon, fennel, yellow potatoes, and heavy cream, but with a lot more flavor and a lot less dairy. I guess that makes this New England/South Indian fusion?

It is great served over rice, but not necessary with all those starchy sweet potatoes. Without the rice, it is more of a soup and, obviously, the flavor will be even more concentrated(maybe just use 3 curry cubes). With the rice, of course, it will stretch a lot farther if you are feeding a crowd. If you want to go all out, serve it with some sourdough roti! I’m still perfecting that one, so I will post that recipe when I’m happy with it.

I forgot to take pictures. I will make it again and add some at a later date. If any photographers in the Lafayette area are reading this, I will trade meals for photos any time.