Mary wrote > Most English towns of any size have an immigrant population, usually > Indian / Pakistani, who run small shops where you can get a good > range of curry spices and fresh chiles absurdly cheaply. That's true but watch the quality with some brands. The really cheap ones, I have found, are also cheap in the quality department. In my view Rajah, TRS and Natco are the best and most reliable brands around. They keep the longest and are widely available in areas with a sizeable Asian population I went on a buying expedition to Southall (which is an area West of London with a large Asian community) recently and came back with some lovely things. Nan breads so big they wouldn't fit in my oven. I had to curl the edges up the sides of the oven and even then they had to go in diagonally!! One would feed about 6 people. Tasty too. Also got some pickles and chutneys which are new to me. The make is "The Kitchen Magic", silly name but A1 pickles. I got the sweet and sour mango chutney and the Punjabi pakora chutney. The mango chutney is excellent but mild and the pakora chutney is out of this world. It is quite hot with a chile burn that hits and then lingers for a while. More of a pickle than a chutney but very pleasant and fresh tasting with lots of shredded vegetables. The top 3 ingredients are garlic, mint and chiles. Oh yes. > For restaurant listings - curry not chile, but compatible :-) > > http://www.curryhouse.co.uk/index.htm Ah that's me at my new home!!! Thank you for the plug. My old URL still works but will forward you on to the new site. There are some new recipes and some articles on the UK curry scene there as well. Not many yet but I'm trying to conduct an e-mail interview with Meena Pathak of Pataks pickles fame at the moment. Someone nearly killed me by turning out in front of my car this morning. My poor car had to be towed away. I needed a chile laced lunch to calm my nerves. Us Chile-Heads are hard to get rid of !!!! cheers, David drop in at The Curry House http://www.curryhouse.co.uk for curry recipes, articles and a UK restaurant guide