Firm white fish, intensely flavoured spices, rich coconut sauce and fresh, aromatic herbs. It's all there in a single fragrant pot of South West India.
Kerala is known as the land of the spices because it traded its spices with Europe and other ancient civilizations dating from the Sumerians from 3000BC. I have been lucky enough to go to Kerala. I shall never forget travelling from Tamil Nadu over the Western Ghats, one of the 8 most diverse biological hot-spots in the world, into the state of Kerala.
Kerala seems to stand back a little, somehow, from the delirious madness that is the rest of the subcontinent. A spectacularly colourful place ( I know, I know, the rest of India isn't exactly monochrome!) where we ate the most stunning food we've ever tasted. The bewildering variety of ingredients, the subtlety of the spicing, the smells, and the knowledge and experience of the cooks, blew our minds away.
One of the many things I did learn was to roast my spices - including black peppercorns - and taste, taste, taste.
Order a bowl with rice and Naan for £8.50pp. Oh, BTW, curry doesn't necessarily mean hot!! It will be full of flavour but not thermonuclear!