Curry does something to my website statistics that nothing else comes close to. Post something with the word 'curry' in the title, and the numbers go through the roof. Rural Andalucía may not be peak curry territory, but Casa Adora has been flying the flag since I arrived in 2012.

Why we love curry – The Flexible Chef

My relationship with curry goes back to the late 1960s – the first Indian restaurants appearing on British high streets, that particular smell of spice and onion hitting you through the door, and the thrill of something genuinely foreign on a Friday night in South London. Decades later I spent thirty-two days on trains across India and discovered, somewhat to my surprise, that the curry I'd grown up loving was largely a British invention. The cooks had emigrated, adapted, and created something new — the British Indian restaurant style that a generation of us grew up with and still cook at home.

If you want to know why curry does things to my website statistics that nothing else comes close to, that's a story for another day.

At Casa Adora the spice jars are always full. This past week alone the hob has seen Chicken Bhuna, Kerala Prawn Curry, and a Vegetable Pilau Rice that takes me straight back to the Taj Mahal on Streatham High Road circa 1971. Alongside: Lemony Bombay Potatoes, homemade mango chutney that puts the jar version to shame, and Indian Kulcha flatbread straight from the pan.

Nobody wants to kiss me. But the curry is worth it.

Find all my curry recipes in the Curry Recipes collection. Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef.