*nod* Kaffir lime leaves really make a Thai curry IME. They're the smell I recognise from the thai food I actually ate in Thailand :)
My one piece of advice about lemon grass is to treat it like cinnamon sticks; use it whole and take it out again after cooking. It's way too fibrous to be edible. I once had some chicken and lemon grass soup which I eventually ended up sieving to get the lemon grass out, and it left something resembling coconut matting in the sieve..
On the subject of spices rather than herbs, nutmeg is often overlooked as an accompaniment to savoury dishes; it's good for adding interest to things with a slightly bitter flavour. I find savoy cabbage fried in olive oil with a bit of black pepper and some nutmeg is lovely. It also livens up spinach a touch. Worth getting whole nutmegs and a grater though, it loses its flavour when ground.
Cinnamon is also a wonderful addition to Moroccan-style dishes; sweet-spicy is another very Middle Eastern combination.
Cumin and ground coriander (which is made from the seed and tastes nothing like fresh coriander leaves at all) are the Gruesome Twosome of both Mexican and Indian cookery; use in much greater moderation in a chilli con carne but they do round out the flavour. Cumin is much stronger than coriander and should be used sparingly; a teaspoon in a chilli for three, for example. An excellent burger recipe crazyscot uses involves mince, grated onion, an egg, half a teaspoon or so of cumin and some coriander - the burgers come out very slightly curryish and are gorgeous :)
Ginger is another one that tastes radically different fresh to dried and ground. Fresh ginger is very fresh-tasting and is wonderful in many many things, especially curry, stirfry or Thai; ginger, fresh coriander and lime makes a good marinade for chicken or tuna. Dried ginger is a sweeter taste and good mainly for curries, baking, Moroccan food or mulled whatever.
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My one piece of advice about lemon grass is to treat it like cinnamon sticks; use it whole and take it out again after cooking. It's way too fibrous to be edible. I once had some chicken and lemon grass soup which I eventually ended up sieving to get the lemon grass out, and it left something resembling coconut matting in the sieve..
On the subject of spices rather than herbs, nutmeg is often overlooked as an accompaniment to savoury dishes; it's good for adding interest to things with a slightly bitter flavour. I find savoy cabbage fried in olive oil with a bit of black pepper and some nutmeg is lovely. It also livens up spinach a touch. Worth getting whole nutmegs and a grater though, it loses its flavour when ground.
Cinnamon is also a wonderful addition to Moroccan-style dishes; sweet-spicy is another very Middle Eastern combination.
Cumin and ground coriander (which is made from the seed and tastes nothing like fresh coriander leaves at all) are the Gruesome Twosome of both Mexican and Indian cookery; use in much greater moderation in a chilli con carne but they do round out the flavour. Cumin is much stronger than coriander and should be used sparingly; a teaspoon in a chilli for three, for example. An excellent burger recipe
Ginger is another one that tastes radically different fresh to dried and ground. Fresh ginger is very fresh-tasting and is wonderful in many many things, especially curry, stirfry or Thai; ginger, fresh coriander and lime makes a good marinade for chicken or tuna. Dried ginger is a sweeter taste and good mainly for curries, baking, Moroccan food or mulled whatever.