21.06.08: Tofu Vindaloo and salad of seeds and stone fruit

Comfy on a Saturday nite: She concocted a casual curry with some bottled vindaloo, tofu fried in curry and chili powder, plus aubergine, sweet pepper, onion, and mustard seeds. Brown basmati and wild rice soaked up the sauce, while a salad of spinach, pomegranate seeds, and sliced nectarines brought colour to the plate. Nigel's lime dressing pepped it all up considerably.

SHE SAYS: That's it - no more of these Bombay sauces unless it's for the original pork vindaloo dish. This was perfectly ok, but only thanks to a last minute addition of concentrated chicken stock paste and a dash of leftover single cream. We need to move on to other 'luxury' sauces. One bright spot: the spice-coated tofu fried up crisp and tasty in safflower oil, with good spongy texture. Salad lifted the spirits and the flavour quotient.

HE SAYS: A curry not in a hurry, but instead laid-back at home on a Saturday night in. The substituting of tofu for pork didn't hurt the taste and perhaps made it a touch lighter then usual. I don't think we've reached the curry sauce zenith with this particular variety; it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't utterly crazy delishy either. Salad was on its usual satisfying form although I forgot to drizzle the dressing, something I regret even now.