Have you tried cooking paneer? It's an Indian hard cheese you can get in Indian stores. Brown cubes of paneer in a non-stick frying pan with a very small amount of oil and drain off on kitchen paper. Fry some ginger, garlic and chilli in a pan in some oil and add chopped onion and tomatoes. Put in a handful of peas and a cup of yogurt. Put in the paneer pieces and season with salt. It's a dish called 'Matar Paneer' that is typical in Punjabi cuisine.

Don't use any nasty bottled curry sauces would be the first point of advice! Being Indian myself, we don't eat what you get in so-called 'Indian tandoori' restaurants and we don't pour fatty sauces over our curries. Indian food is very healthy and nutritious if authentic. I make a nice South Indian-inspired potato curry. Heat a spoon of sunflower oil in a pan till it's hot but not smoking. Add about 6 curry leaves (fresh or dried, available in Indian shops and nor replaceable with any other leaves!) and a tsp of black mustard seeds. Add a sliced onion and some parboiled potato. Season with plenty of lemon juice, a pinch of turmeric, salt and chilli powder. Hope that helps!

First to decide what this currry goes with-rice or roti Depending o it-you can make a dry or a gravy dish Dry dishes are usually eaten in south ndia as a accompaniment to rice and a liquid dish like a sambhar Tha masala will depend on whether you like all spices or not-once again in the Southmwe make food without the strong masalas-like the cinnmon bark and flowers etc We use coriander,chilli(ed/green) and nmay be jeera or pepper. In the North they use a lot of spices like the garam masala so decide wht you want first and then cook all the vegs -or any single one-and then add masala to taste No fuss dishes!!