It’s raining outside right now, but we had have many warm and sunny days. Some days almost felt like early summer.

Wet and cold days often make me feel like, first off, baking – to warm up the house- and eating Indian – to warm up inside me.

This photo was taken from a hotel room when I moved back here after 10 month in windy Wellington – but in fact it was ‘Out of the frying pan, into the fire’ situation. Last summer was unusually wet to everyone’s surprise.- The room was quite high up and I enjoyed looking out the window and down at the world below. I don’t like rain, though, I like watching rain hitting a glass window and leaving traces of tears. -Oh uh, getting sentimental, ain’t I? *did it work? at least I tried*

Prawn masala and fish tikki masala are my all time favourites in an Indian restaurant in Surry Hills.

I have a lot of good memories with my girlfriends there. We would go there for a girly chatty night. At first, it took a while to convince them to try any Indian good because of their aversion to Indian spices. But it only took one mouthful of prawn masala and vegie korma to give them curry craze. *isn’t it right, Jamie and Alice?*

Ok, Indian for dinner. Let’s see what I’ve got in the fridge. A bag of frozen prawns- one of the items I always have at hand – and leek. Leek? Hmm, Indians wouldn’t use leek in cooking, but I don’t see why I can’t.

Yeah, leek got on well with prawns. It was success. So here you get to see the photo.

This is not an authentic version, yet is a kind of dish you can make without too much hassle any time you feel like something Indian. It is especially perfect for those who can’t stand strong Indian spices and herbs.

Prawn&Leek Masala

Where’s naan? I had Lebanese bread as makeshift naan and it was quite good. Next time I might turn it into garlic naan by toasting it with a bit of oil and garlic. *he he*

Curry is so easy to make and full of goodness. When you have a cold, nothing is better than curry to wipe out the evil virus inside your body.

Recipe?

Well, put lots of garlic, onion, leek and chili in and boil the crap of them with some tomato and garam masala mix, which you can get from a spice section in a supermarket. Make sure you add prawns at the last minute to keep them nice and tender.

Actually, one of my friend who tried this dish said it was absolutely fabulous and I needed to get it known to everyone. So I’d better give you a bit more detailed recipe.

To serve 2 big eaters like me, you need

half stalk of leek, roughly sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ginger, minced

2-4 small chili- vary to your tolerance to hotness

1 canned tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes chopped

prawns – 5-6 prawns per person? Well, it’s up to you!

garam masala mix

2 tsp tumeric

2 tbsp oil

salt and pepper

1. Cook garlic, ginger, onion, leek and spices with oil

2. Add chili and tomatoes, and cook for 5 minutes and reduce to low heat and simmer for 20 minute – add some water if it becomes too thick.

3. Finally, add prawns and cook until prawns turn pink

I normally mix cooked rice with finely grated carrot because it looks nice.