On 2004-06-15 14:11:34 +0100, "Peter Aitken" > said:

> "Isaac Wingfield" > wrote in message
> ...
>> The other night, we made a coconut-milk based curry from a cookbook.
>> Lots of spices, a nice hot pepper, blended to a smooth cream. Marinated
>> some chicken breasts in it and grilled them. Pretty good, but not as
>> sweet and "smooth" tasting as somewhat similar dishes we've had at the
>> local Indian place. In fact, it wasn't sweet at all.
>>
>> What is is about a coconut-milk curry that gives the sweetness? The type
>> of coconut milk? The recipe (book printed in England) specified a
>> "brick" of coconut, which had boiling water poured over it. I've never
>> seen such a thing; we used a can of coconut milk. Was that what made the
>> difference?
>>
>> Anybody got a recipe?
>>
>> Isaac
>
> I don't think there's any secret ingredient other than sugar. I've seen
> several supposedly authentic Thai curry recipes that include coconut milk
> and sugar.

I suppose if you want to be a completist you could use palm sugar. Or
use ground almond as a thickening agent; this is standard as far as I
know in passanda dishes.

As for coconut "bricks" this sounds to me like something called
"creamed coconut" (not to be confused with the pink and white candy or
the cocktail syrup both called coconut cream). According to one Indian
recipe book of mine:

"Coconut mik and creamed coconut: When fresh coconut isn't available,
these two ingredients are ideal for adding an authentic Indian flavour
to sweet and savoury dishes. Coconut milk is sold in cans or as a
powder which needs to be made up with water. Creamed coconut is sold in
compressed bars and can be added directly to dishes, or dissolved in
water first. It gives a richer flavour and texture than coconut milk.
You can make coconut milk by soaking unsweetened desiccated (shredded)
coconut in water and squeezing out all the flavoured liquid."

Of course, you could always use fresh coconut if you can get it!

--
Tony