Chicken Curry

I've had a dreadful cold for four days that's kept me mostly flat on my back, but late yesterday I felt good enough- and hungry enough- to cook some dinner. I had four chicken thighs defrosting in the fridge, and a bag of tiny potatoes, and that was enough inspiration to get me started.

I've always liked Thai Masaman Curry, which has (among other ingredients) potatoes, onions, peanuts and pork. I didn't have any peanuts or any pork, but I was going more for inspiration than absolute authenticity. I started out by browning the chicken thighs in a small amount of canola oil in my favorite enameled pot. Once they had some nice color I put them aside, and added:

• a medium red onion, coarsely chopped
• two cloves of garlic, minced
• two tablespoons of Thai yellow curry paste:

This was stirred for a minute or two, and then I added the chicken back to the pot, along with

• a half dozen small potatoes, cut in half
• about a half cup of canned bamboo shoots, cut in medium-sized pieces
• a quarter cup of coconut milk 
• 2 cups of chicken stock. 

This was allowed to simmer covered for an hour while I made a pot of Jasmine rice. It may not be authentic Thai, but it was pretty good, and there's enough left for two more meals.