At some point this must have changed though as I remember being taken out to a new Indian restaurant in my home town by mum and dad, my brother and sister left behind.

I remember that first intoxicating whiff of spices as we walked through the door, the wait for a table while tucking into the Bombay mix and the sizzle of hot meats being taken to the diners.

After being taken to a table my parents were in charge. They have always been fond of Chicken Madras, which is quite hot and nicely flavoured, but on that first occasion I imagine I had a plain chicken curry instead with pilau rice.

The meal was started with poppadoms, which we loaded with the chutneys and relishes on the table. The heat of the lime pickle would have made my head pop, but the mango chutney and yogurt based dishes were there to cool me.

Without choosing a starter - you always have so much food it seems unnecessary, however much you may want to - the main dishes arrived and the aroma of the spices, the decor of the restaurant and the sound of the gentle music taking me to an exotic land far away, with the flavours and heat of the spices adding to the whole atmosphere of exoticism.

That first curry though was what did it for me and one of the things I miss about not living in England is finding a good curry. I think that I've managed to find my way to an Indian restaurant every time I've been back to visit, but although there are a lack of Indian restaurants in Barcelona I do have the solution; to make them myself.

Luckily it is easy to get the ingredients I need to cook various chicken curry recipes, including one given to me by my mum, and so you can almost guarantee that once a week if you arrive at my front door in the evening you'll spell the delicious scent of spices in the air.

One of my favourite chicken curry recipes and an Indian restaurant standard is chicken Madras, which is from southern India. The curry is quite hot and may not be to everyone's taste, but the amount of chilli can be reduced if necessary.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
vegetable oil
1 onion sliced into thin strips
1 tin tomatoes
juice of 1/2 lemon

Spices:
4 dry red chillis
1/2 teaspoon black pepper corns
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
teaspoon cumin seeds
teaspoon fenugreek seeds
teaspoon turmeric
2 cardomoms
pinch cinnamon
4 cloves
pinch coriander power
pinch ginger powder
pinch mustard seeds

Method:
1. Fry the chicken in about 3-4 tablespoons of vegetable oil to colour and remove from the frying pan.

2. Add the onion until golden then add the spices. Mix the spices and blitz before adding to the pan and fry for about 5 minutes, adding a little water if necessary.

3. Add the chicken and pour the lemon juice over. Stir well.

4. Chop the tomatoes and stir into the mix. Cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes.

5. Cook in a a medium oven for 45 minutes and serve with basmati rice.