National Curry Week 2012 (8-14th October)...

Me and Si love a good curry. It's definitely our first choice of takeaway and I must say over the years I have become more experimental and realised I like more things that I first thought. There was a time where I always used to have a Chicken Tikka Masala, but now I love a good Chicken Balti or a Chicken Dhansak and don't get me started on poppadoms. They are like a necessity to my Indian meal ha, with mango chutney and onion salad...yum! Oh dear, making my mouth water. I love Indian all you can eat restaurants because you can try out things you wouldn't usually have and it won't cost you a fortune ordering lots of different dishes. Then if you really like something you can order it next time you have a takeaway...I've done this before.

You're probably wondering why I have decided to do a post on Indian food. Well this week is National Curry Week and an event is held to find the curry capital of Britain. You can find out more about this here and you can also vote for your favourite Indian restaurant.

You may have noticed in past posts that I do some food sampling for Tesco and they have a lovely restaurant inspired 'Taste of India' range that has a variety of main dishes, side dishes, snacks and it also caters for vegetarians. The prices are incredibly reasonable with each dish being £2.50. You can also get 3 dishes for £6 or 5 dishes for £9.

You could indulge in starters or side dishes of 6 Spinach Bhajis with Tomato and Chilli Dip, 6 Red Pepper Pakoras with Mango Chutney Dip, 4 Chicken Tikka Samosas, Gobi Aloo, Saag Bhajee and/or Pilau Rice with Roti Bread. Then you can get stuck into mains of a Chicken Sizzler, Tandoori Chicken Masala, Chicken Pathia, Chicken Dhansak, Prawns with Chilli and Garlic, Beef Madras, Butter Chicken, Chicken Saag, Mushroom and Pea Masala and/or Aubergine Masala.

My favourites are Gobi Aloo and Pilau Rice with Roti Bread as side dishes and Chicken Dhansak as a main. Chicken Dhansak has a sweet and sour taste. This curry is sometimes served with pineapple (which Si loves), but I love the lentils that are within the sauce...yum! Pilau rice is pretty self explanatory but Gobi Aloo is roasted potato and cauliflower with onions, spices, curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds.

(Examples of the 'Taste of India' range from Tesco. Pictures courtesy of Tesco).

You can pop into your local Tesco to see what they have available from this range or you can purchase items from the range online.

If you like Indian food, what's your favourite dish?

My mouth has been watering throughout writing this post...I can feel an Indian takeaway coming on this week ha ha.

Gem XxOo