It’s not as complicated as you might think to make this superstar aromatic curry from scratch – here’s a definitive step-by-step guide

For many of us in the west, green curry, or kaeng khiao wan , was our first taste of Thai cuisine – indeed, just 30 years ago, the Irish Sunday Independent felt the need to explain to its readers that Thai curries were “very different” from Chinese or Indian ones. Fresh and fiery, this modern classic is still a wake-up call to the palate today.

Prep 20 min
Cook 20 min
Serves 2 , and easily doubled

Three joyful dishes for a new year: a mild yellow curry, street food-style fried pork and a simple dish of baked mackerel and rice

Songkran , the Thai New Year on 13 April, is a vibrant and joyous celebration marked by a famous water festival that symbolises the cleansing of the past year’s misfortunes through playful water fights and anointing one’s elders with water at the hottest time of year. Traditional Thai dishes play a central role, reflecting the culinary heritage that unites families and communities at this auspicious time.

Meaty jackfruit takes the place of fish in this fresh and fragrant Thai-style curry with vermicelli noodles

Forget about breakfast at Tiffany’s: breakfast in Phuket is where it’s at. At Pa Mai, you can pull up a plastic stool to a table resplendent with the finest herbs, pickles and fresh fruit Thailand has to offer. And those are just the accoutrements: the star of the show is the khanom chin buffet, where coils of handmade, fermented rice noodles sit waiting for you to ladle over your choice of (frankly, an embarrassment) of coconut milk curries. Back home in the UK, my breakfasts are not quite so leisurely, but my evening meals sometimes are, and that’s when I’d recommend you indulge in this slice of Thai paradise.

A cheat’s version of malai kofta , in which you blend readymade paneer with coriander and spices, roll it into balls, then deep-fry before immersing them in a creamy curry

This is a week-night take on my mum’s incomparable malai kofta , for which you blend homemade paneer with coriander and spices until fluffy, roll the mixture into balls, then deep-fry and serve with a spiced cream sauce. In this version, you quickly fry shop-bought paneer and serve it with a similar sauce that includes peas for colour and some other veg. My top tip, which comes from food writer Roopa Gulati , is that you can improve shop-bought paneer no end by giving it a quick soak before use – it rehydrates and has a lovely, fluffy texture, rather than bouncing off the plate when you try to stab it with a fork.

There are as many different recipes for kare raisu as there are cooks who make it, so can our in-house perfectionist discover the winning formula?

In the early years of this century, not long after I ate my first “sushi” (M&S vegetarian selection, since you ask), I tried my first katsu curry at a cool London noodle bar, with my cool new university friends, one of whom had been banging on about this Wagamama place since freshers’ week. You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found that the thick, brown gravy dolloped over neat slices of breaded chicken reminded me of nothing more than good old chip shop curry sauce .

Of course, I didn’t mention this at the time, for fear of ridicule – it wasn’t until many years later that I found out this was no mere coincidence. As Japanese chef and author Hiroko Shimbo explains , “Indian curry came to Japan from England”, via the Royal Navy, when the country first opened up to foreign trade in the second half of the 19th century. After adoption by the Japanese armed forces, it became more widely popular as an example of yōshoku , or western food.

A Bengali kumro chenchki – stir-fried pumpkin with dried chillies, panch phoran, ginger and cumin – and a Keralan spicy chicken and cashew curry with turmeric, ginger and curry leaves

Today’s recipes are classics from two different regions of India. You’d typically find the kozhi kari at weddings and celebrations in Kerala, and the recipe here is a riff on my friend Ravi’s grandmother’s, who made the best version I have ever had. The kumro chenchki , meanwhile, is essentially a simply spiced stir-fry, that’s usually served with dal, ghee and flatbread for the ultimate comfort food.

This nostalgic, fragrant pot of curry smells and tastes as authentically Saturday night as a favourite TV show

When I was growing up, our family treat on a Saturday night was a Chinese takeaway. We’d drive 15 minutes to our nearest town to get it and the way back was agony . The smell of the curry and rice was so mighty, it penetrated the car upholstery and sent us flying down little country roads in anticipation. At home, no one talked while we ate like beasts, slinging spoons into the foil containers until, finally sated, we stopped to watch Blind Date . Twenty-six years later and now with my own family, we still love Chinese food on Saturday night, but with no local takeaway, I make it at home (and we’ve swapped Blind Date for Gladiators ).

A trio packed with flavour: chicken and cardamom meatballs in yoghurt sauce, a brioche bun stuffed with spicy, sour keema, and mini rice-paper wraps stuffed with a laab-like pork filling

Mince has a reputation for being cheap, uninspiring and bland, but there’s so much more to it than just spag bol and burgers. If you buy the best quality you can afford, and season it imaginatively, mince is versatile, quick to cook and nourishing. From ragu to laab, every culture has a favourite mince dish; these dishes use ground chicken, lamb and pork, and are boldly seasoned with Asian spices and condiments to warm you up on chilly nights.