Back to the 1970s.

My mum always used to tell a story that she took me to my first curry house at about a week old. I guess my mum and dad were quite adventurous in those days. They had a friend who ran a curry house and their son was born in the same week as me. We moved away from Surrey on my birthday in 1974. If I recall we paid one more visit to our friends during the Silver Jubilee celebrations in June 1977. I wonder where they are now?

Mum used to make beef curries in those days in the same way that everyone did in the 1970s. Basic compared to the original and a very British way of doing it. Mum's were usually too hot for me but I did love the cardamom she used.

Trying to think what to cook yesterday and having bought some beef I decided to go back to those days and see what happened. Garam masala, turmeric, fiery Indian chillies formed the base but it was the addition of desiccated coconut and sultanas that really took me back in time. And it was a triumph. Rick Stein called the recipe British Beef Raj curry. I'm sure natives to the Indian sub continent would have been appalled but it did the trick on a Saturday evening.

Away from the kitchen we are expecting a great storm in southern England tonight. Some are saying it might be the worst since the epic hurricane of 1987. Time will tell. I content myself with sitting in the warm, relaxing and slow roasting shoulder of pork. After several days of not feeling well it is good to be back to normal.

I Heard a Voice.