One of my all time desert island dishes would have to be a curry, I love all the spices and interesting flavours of Thai and Indian cooking. I spent a few months travelling around India with my friend Gill when I was young and at college and it truly is a very colourful varied place. Later in life I have visited many places in Thailand and Laos and I would definitely have to rank Asian cooking as my favourite. My homemade curry is packed full with thick cut veges as that is what I like, but obviously feel free to cut them smaller or leave out if you prefer.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1 inch cube of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 mini courgettes (or 1 large one)
• 2 small red peppers (or 1 large one)
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• handful (6-8) of cherry tomatoes, chopped in half
• Pack of Raw King Prawns (180g or 235g), can be frozen (just add another few minutes cooking time if they are straight from freezer)
• 80g Ready washed fresh spinach
  
• ¼ jar of Jalfrezi spice paste (I always use Patak’s)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp of cardamom seeds (or seeds from 2 cardamon pods)
• Handful of chopped coriander leaves
• A cupful of white rice or naan, to serve

1. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large deep pan. Add the chopped onion and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the chopped garlic and ginger and stir in, cook for another few minutes.
   
3. Add the Jalfrezi paste and stir through the onion mix. Add the extra spices (cumin seeds, cardamon seeds and garam masala). Stir everything together for 1 minute.
   
4. Add your chopped peppers and courgettes, ensuring they are all coated with the spice mix.
   
5. Add the tinned tomatoes and chopped cherry tomatoes. If it looks a little dry I usually add a little water to the tin the tomatoes were in and wash around to get the remaining juice from the tomatoes, then add to the pan.
   
6. Put the lid on your pan and turn the heat down so its on low. At this point, cook your rice if you are having the curry with rice, which will usually take 10 minutes. Top tip, do not take the lid off even for a tiny peek as the rice will be perfect then. Just ensure you add the required amount of water and switch off after 10 minutes.
   
7. Add your prawns to the curry and stir through. Whether using frozen or fresh raw prawns slowly cook through until the prawns turn pink not opaque.
   
8. About 2 minutes before your rice is cooked, add the spinach to the curry and stir through, then just pop the lid on and the spinach will steam cook it.
   
9. Heat your plates and add a portion of rice and curry, top with chopped coriander leaves and enjoy!!!