Curry in a hurry
Curries remind me of Friday nights out in London. Every Friday would see friends and I leave the pub at 11 pm and head across the road to one of the many Indian Restaurants in London for a curry and a pint before heading home. I think anyone who grew up in the UK would have a similar memory to mine and as I write this I am looking forward to my next trip back home to see if the Friday night ritual is as good as I remember it to be!
Growing up, my Grandma used to cook curried eggs. I am told I have a very rose coloured view on what they were like, as I am obsessed with finding the long lost recipe. My mum and sister have assured me they were not as good as I remembered them to be and from their memories they were pretty awful. I just wish I could find that long lost recipe so I could try them, even if they are pretty awful!
Apart from the curried eggs, my family didn’t cook a great deal of curries when I was growing up. Maybe this is why when I discovered the Friday night ritual of a curry after the pub. I hooked onto it pretty quickly.
Since moving to Australia curry has not been high on the menu / restaurant list. as it is the one food my husband isn’t keen on, so I tend not to cook them too often. That’s not to say I still don’t love a good curry.
I was so excited 6 years ago when we went on holiday to India. As well as thinking about all the amazing places we were going to see I was excited about trying all of the local cuisine. In my excitement I forgot about curries not being a favourite of John’s and that they also didn’t really agree with him. I did start to wonder what he would eat during the trip, but quickly put that to one side and thought about all the lovely food I was going to eat! We had quite a good compromise and I did manage to try a few amazing curries while I was over there, but not as many as I would have liked to,. Maybe it was just as well as well I wasn’t eating too many curries as I managed to avoid coming down with delhi belly while I was away.
Even though we didn’t eat as many curries as I would have liked, I still enjoyed all the amazing smells and seeing all the cooking going on around the streets. There was just so much to take in and I could have eaten my way round all the little street stalls if I hadn’t been worried about sitting in the mini bus for the next 5 hours without a toilet in sight!
I recently went to stay with some friends in Geelong for a girls night and the lovely Janina had cooked a beautiful curry. This was a huge treat for me as it’s not something I often get, and a home cooked curry is always a favourite for me when John isn’t around. Janina is an incredibly good cook so I was a bit nervous when I recreated her dish and made my version of the Mutton Kari (Lamb curry). I have to say my attempt was pretty good and went down well with Vicki, who I invited over for dinner to sample it and then sent a batch home for her lovely husband to enjoy.
I am sure like me you must have some wonderful curry memories, recipes and amazing restaurants you can recommend. If the restaurants are close enough I may just drop down there the next time John is working away from home as it will save me cooking for one!
Please share any of your recipes with us so that I can cook up a storm at home and recreate the Friday night ritual of a curry after the pub closes at 11 pm!
Happy eating and cooking
Rachel
