I tried your recipe for Lamb Madras. I followed it exactly, with the exception of the curry leaves (Iv'e never seen these in any of the top high street supermarkets). It was the mildest madras I've ever had - not the slightest evidence of any heat whatsoever.

Hello Tony

I am so sorry that your curry was not hot enough and not to your taste. There can be many reasons for it;

1. Unfortunately Indian chilli powders are not sold by chilli name and they vary a lot in their heat, even when labelled mild or hot. Therefore, it is difficult to quantify exactly.

2. Different people like different levels of heat. That is why I have said, ''1/2 tsp., more if you like it hot'.

3. Personally, I don't like my food too hot. It covers the taste of the main ingredients and flavours of other spices. Most Indians that I know, do not make their food too hot. But I do understand that Madras curry has to be wildly hot according to UK Indian restaurants.

4. It is a myth that all food from Southern India, or any other part of India, has to be hot, though south Indian is hotter than north Indian food generally.

5. I have never claimed that my food is anything like UK Indian restaurant food. It is mostly home recipes of family, friends and myself.

Thanks for writing in.

Mamta

Thanks, Mamta. I agree with you that too hot masks the flavour. It was just that in this case I detected no heat at all. It may have been that my spices may have been a little out of date. I have recently discovered a new Indian Supermarket near to me and will try the recipe again with some fresh spices. The general recipe was very good, and I look forward to trying some of your other specialites

Hello Tony

If you like your hot food, look for the chillies marked Hot or Extra hot. Better luck next time.

If you have any problems with any of my recipes, please do feel free to write again. I am always updating my recipes here :0

Mamta