I am partial to a ruby murray. There is nothing better than a hot curry that has been expertly balanced and cooked correctly.
In particular, I love a Malaysian version I have had with wonderful flavours of galangal, lemongrass, tamarind and pandan.
I ate it often when I lived in London. I think I first sampled it around 1998 when I lived off High Street Kensington. Our new neighbours moved in and invited my partner Penny and I around for a curry.
When I moved away to Cumbria, curries were harder to come by. Our village of Cartmel is beautiful, but it doesn’t have many restaurants. I’ve just got a new flat in London, however, and there are some good local spots right in the neighbourhood, so my appetite has well and truly reawakened.
I probably wouldn’t have time to get to an exotic beach, but a stoney one at the northern tip of Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria – looking south on a warm, crystal blue-skied summer evening – would more than do.
If pushed to choose one artist, I’d pick some deep underground house from Evil Eddie Richards as the soundtrack to my meal, which I’d share with Penny, close family and all my friends from West Sussex. Where would I be without them?
Who would cook it? Well, the man who first made it for me, of course. Our Malaysian ex-neighbour, Muru, who is as eccentric as they come. He’s as nutty as a fruitcake, but his food is absolutely amazing. Mulu is also a brilliant artist; some of his art was on the walls at our pop-up restaurant, Roganic.
To top it off, there would be Dom Pérignon P2 1998 vintage – incredible! And, let’s face it, there’s always room for dessert, isn’t there? For which I’d love a good trifle.
