We’re creatures of habit. Ever since we married, we’ve always sat down to a “proper” Sunday lunch. It’s not always anything fancy but it’s usually something that’s a little more special than a weekday supper. In pre-Covid times, we’d often have Bettine to lunch too and perhaps that’s something to look forward to in the not too distant future. For now, though, it’s just the two of us sitting down to whatever took my fancy when I was doing the food shop.

This week, feeling particularly bereft of adventure - we should have flown to Copenhagen on Thursday - I seized upon the idea of conjuring up the spirit of another place with food and music. I had been given the Dishoom cookbook for my birthday last year and the idea of cooking a favourite from their menu today appealed to me. After all, I had plenty of time, my Hero promised to be an appreciative audience and the recipes seemed perfectly manageable.

I read my blog entries from our trip to Mumbai in 2018 to get in the mood and enjoyed a couple of chapters from the book too. I’ve had a few emails from the restaurant in the last few days as it reopens for business and these had whetted my appetite as well.

As for what to make, well, a restaurant favourite seemed like a good start. I always think Chicken Ruby is a great name for the Dishoom standard chicken curry, though I wonder how many get the rhyming slang reference these days?

It was a far from quick cook, but well worth the effort! Maybe the naan bread needs a bit of practice, but all things considered, that was a pretty tasty Sunday lunch today.

Accompanied by the Dishoom playlist too - though I think something a little more authentically Mumbai would have been better, just to get us in the mood for A Suitable Boy next Sunday.