Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, my only understanding of curry was the yellow powder in a standard issue wedding-gift spice rack. That powder originated in India, a combination of seasonings that were meant to travel well and mimic fresh curries. Many British returning to the British Isles from the then-colonized subcontinent hoped to bring home flavors they had grown to love. I never really had a hankering for the blend, and wrongly understood “curry” to mean just that. Years later, the world of curry as a broader category of dishes opened up to me. I learned that Indian, Thai, and Japanese curries existed, and bore little resemblance to the golden powder. My favorite of them all, perhaps, is often referred to as Northern Thai curry. Khao soi, a yellow, rich, soup-like sort of coconut milk-based curry, is a popular dish in the Chiang Mai region of …