hurry for your curry!

When Slummy Mummy invited us over for dinner in honour of my birthday-last-year, I thought it was an excuse for a catch up. How wrong I was: there was no doubt that food was the star of this show! With five of us crowded round her wipe-clean table-clothed table, and my younger sister perched in the toddler's chair, we struggled to fit all the dishes on the table!

There were four main curry dishes (Beef and coconut Madras, soya mince curry, fish tenga and lamb curry); side dishes of Taka Daal and Sag Aloo, and everything served with Naan bread, chapattis, plain basmati rice... not to mention poppadoms, onion salad, raita, chutney... you get the idea.

All dishes were eaten in the first round, delicious surprises including the very sweet lamb and the soya dish, but by the inevitable second-helpings I had narrowed my favourites down to the beef madras, sag aloo and daal. Then I had a third course of beef, to celebrate: incredibly tender and spicy, but not fierce - the coconut milk lending a little sweetness to the dish. Somehow we still had an appetite for the grilled pineapple basted with rum, sugar and cinnamon, served with ginger and lemongrass sorbet. Rarely have I been so full and yet not regretted a single mouthful!

There was suspense and excitement too: names of six chefs / food writers that these recipes could have come from were provided, and we had to match the dish to the chef. Apparently one Gordon Ramsay was to thank for the Madras.


There is a coda. Back home I couldn't stop thinking about the beautiful Madras, so last night I bought some ready made paste (thank you, Mrs Patak) and made a rough-and-ready vegetable version. Swede, leek, celery, onion and carrots were sweated in oil. Nervous of the heat, I added only 2 large tablespoons of the Madras paste - about 1/4 of the jar - to cook into the vegetables. After a few minutes I added 1 or 2 cans of chopped tomatoes (in fact, they were cartons which are much lighter to carry) and some water, then simmered for 40 minutes. I threw in chopped kale for five minutes, then a slug of coconut milk and a couple of cheeky hard boiled eggs. Happily, the heat was spot-on: gorgeously warming on a chill, dark March evening.

It is still the tastiest way of using your less-favoured veg - swede and the 'prickly kale' in our household - and has the immense advantage of being something to pair with lime pickle. I am obsessed with lime pickle all over again! I won't rest until I find a good recipe and a crate of unwaxed limes. Any recommendations would be much appreciated!