I need curry

Current mood: experimental

I've been experimenting with red curry paste. Some time ago, I realized that most restaurants use canned coconut milk and commercial pastes to concoct their delightful curries; if I were to break down and buy said items, I too could create lovely curries in the privacy of my own home at a fraction of the cost. Of course, that would mean having to admit to myself that I crave something as fat-laden as coconut milk. Ice cream, chocolate, butter, candy - these things I have no problem buying, but coconut milk? Fat food of the devil! (I feel the same way about avocadoes.) Annnnnnyway...things that I have learned about the art of making my Very Own Curry:

- curry paste + coconut milk does NOT = red curry (there's, like, 10 other things that need to go into the mixture, so said my taste buds)
- for the love of pete, stop wearing white clothes to cook red things!!!!!!!
- thai holy basil (or, Holy! Thai! Basil!) is NOT the same as regular or Italian basil
- fish sauce = nasty smelling!!! (as in, what is wrong with this stuff and why would I ever put it in, on, or near food?)
- oh yeah, eggplant shrinks exponentially when you cook it, so we'll be needing a bit more of that
- sigh, food at home never tastes like restaurant food, and I am almost positive that's it's merely a function of (acceptable-in-front-of-my-eyes) butter content

Other than that, the experiments have been very successful, except for having generated a need for severe gym time, as I have been consuming hitherto-unforeseen quantities of the devil's milk.