Curry Night

The thing I love about holidays is not having to get up early in the morning. My dd arranged a day out today (lunch and skating) so I thought it would be great if I could organise a night in. I'm always looking for ways to save money and cooking for a night in is certainly cheaper than us all going to a restaurant. The only negative is the washing up. I think we are probably the only household in the country that doesn't have a dishwasher, as a result I am starting to have dishpan hands. There aren't many things I like about washing up but I do like the fact that it's immediate and I don't have to wait for the dishwasher cycle to finish. It's also quite sociable when you have friends over.

Luckily, I have friends who were available at the last minute so I've spent the day cooking a vegetarian Indian feast for tonight. My cooking world has really opened up since I bought the Prashad cookbook. I love the look of the book and the stories behind the recipes. I'm the kind of person who reads cookbooks as a way of relaxing. Even last night, I was reading Jerusalem by Yotam Ottalenghi and Sami Tamimi and deciding if I was going to make their Krantz cake. Their version is full of butter and sugar. My friend brought an equivalent sweet bread the other day to feed us after a walk and I've asked her for the recipe as it isn't full of so many bad things. The plan is to make it tomorrow so look out for the recipe.

I've spent the afternoon cooking vegetarian curries. I've always been quite scared of recipes with lots of ingredients, particularly all the spices, but I've realised there was nothing to be scared of.

As long as you have all the spices to hand, it's much easier than it looks. Thank you Prashad restaurant for making me see the light. Here are the curries that I've made - I'll reheat them nearer the time.

Paneer Masala (spicy tomato and Indian cheese) and Vegetable Handi (tomato and chunky vegetable)

Mushroom Palak (Spinach and mushroom curry)

Wattana and Flower (pea and cauliflower curry)

Just got the rice and samosas to make and I'll be ready. Indian banquet here we come.