A classic hot and tangy south Indian dish of toasted spices in a deep rich sauce. Early restaurateurs had no way of communicating the scale of heat in a dish so an arbitrary scale was created - a korma is mild, a phall is crazy hot and so on. Now the standard restaurant dishes all fit somewhere on that gradient. However, one sauce was created by restaurateurs in the UK that was hot, fiery and tangy - and they called it madras. Now Madras (now called Chenni) is a hot, dry region in India so this was a great way to illustrate the level of heat in this dish. History lesson over! If you want to get to grips with your spices this is a lovely dish to put together as you have to create your own Madras spice blend. A beautifully fragrant recipe for when you're ready for a little more of a challenge.
If you haven’t got the time to make this in the evening, then you can slow cook it so it’s ready when you get in.