My new favourite curry pastes

I've been shopping at Choku Bai Jo, the organic/farm shop in North Lyneham, since the very first day it opened in 2008. We used to live around the corner and now live a couple of kilometres away. Still close enough to pop in several times a week for fresh local fruit, veges, honey, cheese, etc. Recently I noticed they'd started stocking curry pastes and recipe bases from Zest Byron Bay.

While I know how to make curry pastes from scratch – after taking cooking classes in Singapore, Malaysia and Canberra – we don't always have the time or inclination to do so! So these products, which contain no unpronounceable ingredients and taste fabulous, have become a welcome addition to my kitchen. So far we've tried the Rogan Josh, Massaman Blend and Rendang Blend, and I'm planning to make a huge pot of tofu vindaloo later this week. Each pack has a suggested recipe on the back, some specifying a particular meat and some simply suggesting 'protein'. I've been mixing it up, for example, using a mixture of lamb and winter vegetables (pumpkin, sweet potato, cauliflower) for the rogan josh I've made to take to our friends' place for dinner tomorrow night.

I adore spicy food and would eat it several times a day if I could! So finding this delicious, easy and authentic range of products has been wonderful ;-)