Saved by a coriander discovery,

On a Russian cruise for a week in the Pacific I couldn’t eat anything due to seasickness. The ubiquitous smell of boiled cabbage in the ship’s dining room didn’t help either. I could only eat once we landed in a port and I was dying for some spice.

At the end of the cruise, we docked in Nadi or Suva (I can’t remember) and raced to the first Indian restaurant only to discover that the flavour was lost somewhere between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. I was about to pout when the waiter brought a bowl of coriander chutney. It gave the food so much flavour, I had to put some on my tongue to work out the ingredients.

Now, whenever I cook curry and it doesn’t quite make the grade, coriander chutney saves me. Here’s the ingredients I figured out went into the paste: a bunch of coriander, crushed garlic, salt, a chilli and a dob of oil all thrown together in a blender.