it's when one looks at some on-line recipes that one fully appreciates what Mamta has to offer.

A recent look at one site produced two 'Indian' recipes, both of which contained tomato sauce! Now I can't say that every thing we cook has to be just right, but when the right ingredients are used, and used in a sympathetic way, the final result/s are usually 'just right'.

More power to your elbow, Mamta (or whatever you use to cook with!)

Thank you Helen. My whole body needs power boost these days ;)!

just said tomato sauce. I read that as TK. If you are suggesting it may be something else, than why call it tomato sauce?

Anyway, my point is that so many recipes on the internet are more or less generic, by that I mean mostly the same ingredients cooked the same way. So same flavours. By these methods, there are only so many curries- chicken, lamb, prawn, etc. You get the idea.

It is only when one comes across something like Mamta's offerings that one can appreciate the hundreds of different chicken curries, etc. All different.

I once did an exercise when I chose a few ingredients (nothing special) and worked out how many different dishes I could come up with. I think I ended up with over thirty. Try it some time!

When it comes to Indian cooking, people often get very flustered about having to have a lot of spices. That isn't really true. If you look at a lot of recipes for 'curries', they use 5 basic spices, plus a couple more.

1. Seeds; any one of these seed are used for tempering in hot oil of choice/ghee; cumin/mustard seed/nigella seeds/fenugreek/panchpooran (a mix of 5)/carom seeds/fennel seeds

2. Turmeric, ground powder or fresh root, both giving different flavours.

3. Ground coriander seeds

4. Chilli powder/chilli flakes

5. Paprika

Extra, Following would be nice to have. Grind both fresh, the difference in flavours is amazing.

1. Cumin powder, fresh and made from dry roasted seeds.

2. Garam masala. Make your own (recipe on my website), the difference is amazing. Some dishes use whole, generally added to hot oil at the beginning of the recipe. Most dishes say sprinkle at the end and close lid, so flavours can develop and infuse. Make your own (recipe on my website), the difference is amazing.

If you have these things, you can make almost all Indian dishes.