Chicken with sweet potato curry with coconut and caramel sauce

From The food and cooking of Vietnam and Cambodia:  We ate this with steamed rice, but I would have preferred a baguette since it had a lot of sauce.  Mix 3 tbsp curry powder and 1 tbsp ground tumeric.  Toss half of the mixture with 1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs and set aside.  Heat 1 1/2 tbsp raw cane sugar with 1 1/2 tsp water until sugar is dissolved and it starts to color.  Set aside to cool.  Heat 2 tbsp sesame oil.  Stir fry 2 chopped shallots, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 1/2 inch chopped ginger (called for galangal, but I only had galangal powder so I used ginger), 1 tbsp minced lemon grass.    Stir in the rest of the curry/tumeric mixture and 2 tsp dried chili flakes.  Add chicken and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.  (Mine was very dry, so I added a little veg oil).  Add 2 medium peeled and cubed sweet potatoes, 3 tbsp fish sauce, 2 1/2 cups coconut milk and 2/3 cup water.  Mix thouroughly, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in chopped basil and cilantro.