Yelly-fi-felly-food-belly

Leave my boyfriend to go spend the last of our Sri Lankan Rupees before boarding our flight home is usually asking for trouble and I have to be honest, some of the ingredients I'm still a little puzzled by and have no idea what to do with them! But for a select few along with whatever I could find in the cupboard and fridge / freezer, I put to use what I learnt at a Sri Lankan cookery class in Mirissa , and cooked up a deliciously fragrant, cheap curry. Ingredients (serves 2): 1 red onion, diced 1 garlic clove, crushed 2 inches of ginger, grated 1 green chilli, sliced 2 tsps of turmeric 2 tsps of brown curry powder (from Sri Lanka) 1 cinnamon stick, broken into bits (from Sri Lanka) 4 green cardamom pods (from Sri Lanka) 1 cup of frozen prawns (or your chosen meat / fish) 1/4 of a butternut squash, peeled and cubed (optional) 1 tin of coconut milk 1 cup of rice 1. Fry the onion in a tablespoon of olive oil until softened. 2. Add the ginger, garlic, chil...

Anyone who has recently moved outside of Zone 2 will know that there are certain areas estate agents push (and push) and whether you choose to believe their spiel about it being "an up and coming area" or "the next Shoreditch" is up to you. My past experience with a certain group of Coca-Cola supplying rahs, is that most of the time they are telling a load of rubbish and will almost certainl y drive you to an area you didn't ask for, for a price you didn't agree.     So it took me by surprise to find that actually, Tooting is pretty up and coming. I'd been to the Tram and Social before, but anyone who's walked the short walk between there and the station, knows that the choice of shops are really limited to Wilkos and a take-away chicken shop. But dig a little deeper and just around the corner you will find several trendy bars and a chicken shop of a different kind.  With a continuous stream of hungry customers forming an orderly queue ...