A pat on the back!

Over the last couple of weeks you've taken multi-tasking to a whole new level – you never knew it was possible to keep so many balls in the air!

Now is the time to regain your sanity and, after all that rich food and perhaps a little over indulgence, you might fancy a smidgen of spice.

The only trouble is that you can never predict when the fancy may take you – unless of course you can predict the future – in which case you'll be collecting your lottery win!

Furthermore, if you make a curry sauce from scratch you need all manner of fresh ingredients - some of which are not always easy to get hold of if you live in the sticks - and it takes forever to make.

Here's my answer – and I'm not going to apologise to the purists out there – this recipe is fast – the curry sauce base takes no time at all and for the most part you'll have the ingredients in your pantry. I concede that you may need to invest in a jar of Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and if you can't get hold of star anise powder then use one whole spice.

Give it a go :

Curry sauce base

1 medium onion, finely diced

glug of vegetable oil

2 cloves of garlic, crushed or 1 tsp of garlic paste

2 tsps mild curry powder

1 tsp star anise powder or one star anise

*3 tsps of of dark soft brown sugar

*1 tbsp Kecap manis

*1 tbsp dark soy sauce

*1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

*1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

160ml coconut cream

350g bag of prawns, defrosted

500g Charlotte (or similar) potatoes, cooked, peeled

and diced

2 handfuls of petit pois, defrosted

Fresh chopped coriander - optional

Mango chutney – optional

Serves 4

Mix together in a small bowl or jug all the ingredients marked *.

Soften the onion and garlic in a glug of vegetable oil, in a large frying pan. Add the curry powder and star anise and cook the spices on a medium heat so that they release their flavour – 2/3 minutes.

Add the mixed ingredients and then the coconut cream and simmer for another 2/3 minutes. Your sauce is ready to use whenever you are.

I added the prawns, potatoes and petit pois – served it in bowls with spoons – add a sprinkle of chopped coriander if you have it – it's not compulsory. I love mango chutney and finished my bowl with a large blob!

This sauce is really kind – you could keep it vegetarian by adding whatever veggies you have to hand or add cooked chicken. It's not a “blow your head off” curry sauce – serve it with rice or noodles or garlic bread if you don't want to include the potatoes. I can tell you it ticked all the boxes for me!

Since my next missive will be on 3^rd January I'd like to close by wishing you a happy & healthy New Year. Thank you for your support and I hope you'll stay with me in 2016.

Happy New Year! xxx