Shades of Mem saab Beeton

You may remember the famous "first catch your rabbit quote" but in this case, "it was first toast and grind up your garam masala mix". A curry dinner to prepare for the evening and the spice jar was empty. Spent the whole day cooking until I dropped but it was worth the effort. This was the third round with Manu, Sandrine, Valérie, Eric and Clare  This time Jean-Jacques came along. I also made a spag bol for the six children who came too. I was a bit anxious that the French, who on the whole are not curry eaters, would find the food too spicy. The lime pickle was a bit much for most of them but otherwise they managed very well with the  unknown flavours. Jaimie's Chicken Tikka Masala at  http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/chicken-tikka-masala and Prawn and Coconut Curry from the Good Food website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/5084/prawn-and-coconut-curry were on the menu along with spicy chickpeas, poppadoms and various acoomaniments. Breaking away from the curry theme, there was also a cheese course, at Christian's insistance and he was right as most of it disappeared!

Our guests took their leave at about midnight with Manu's parting shot being "we'll do dinner soon" so it looks like we're in for an Autumn rerun.