Powdered coconut milk and thai/indian dishes

Yeah, I've used that stuff for years– awesome curries, but also dee-lish rice pudding!

I modified Sarah's recipe for Salmon Craisin Couscous Pilaf (it's in her book) by replacing the bouillon and parsley with coconut milk powder, Thai basil, and freeze-dried red jalapenos. Fantastic.

Yeah, I've been cooking with curries. I buy any kind that says to add coconut milk. I have brought coconut manna with me for this. I recently purchased coconut cream powder but haven't tried it to make curry yet. I keep my curry pastes in an OP sack so the smell doesn't infiltrate all my other food.

I tend to keep things simple, but this sounds tasty!

For those (if any) who work from a mix plus powdered cocounut milk, any recs for the mix?

For those who make it from scratch, what do you do for basil? In my experience, dried basil doesn't cut it. You manage to bring fresh, somehow? Or have found dried that's decent?

Thanks!

Best,

Bill

i'd love to see some full recipes if you feel like compiling them. i love curry in general, itd be great to take it out on the trail.

That's nice to know about – the powder cocnut milk. My wife is always trying to cook gourmet food in the wilderness and she'll appreciate it.

On the pugent odors: I note that every time I saw a black bear went for one pack over another in the Sierra, it was the one with the salami in it. But they are only black bears, so I'd grab a stick and run at it, yelling and waving the stick.

In grizzly country, we do the 100-meter triangle – cook, sleep and store food at least 100 meters from each other. Better yet, cook early, clean up, and move on before setting up camp. One of the beauties of the bear canisters which we all love to hate, is that you toss them far from camp and it is probably GOOD if they smell more than you do, so the critters spend the night batting around the canister and not you.

I love powdered coconut milk. I took some with me on my JMT hike last month and used it in my instant potatoes, Thai noodle dishes and then in my morning "sludge" drink of instant coffee and meal replacement drink. So delicious and so versatile!

At home, when I make curries from scratch, I use actual coconut milk, and I am a bit more careful about getting the ratio of ingredients right. However, on the trail and using the powdered coconut milk, I just go by taste. A small pouch actually lasts a long time.

Dave,

You'll be happy to know the "bear ate my salami" thread in this forum has been reinvigorated!

Susan