Mixing up the cultures for a lovely supper dish T

Phone: Website: Opening hours: Children: Disabled access: The bill: Would you go back? HIS week’s recipe seems quite timely, as the temperatures start to dip at the end of another largely disappointing summer.

Time to think about tweaking the central heating, and getting the sweaters out of the cupboard.

Time, too, to think about changing our kitchen repertoire to suit the cooler evenings.

As autumn begins, we start craving more substantial dishes, and often these involve those warm, comforting spices that define Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi food.

I don’t think there’s much that doesn’t benefit from the subtle addition of a few warm spices. Bangers and mash, cheese on toast, scrambled eggs. All great with a little cumin and chili to liven things up.

So this week’s recipe is another one of my intercontinental mash-ups that I always enjoy planning and cooking.

You’ll remember that we’ve tried a rather heretical chicken tikka lasagne which turned out incredibly well

and a lovely Indian-spiced shepherd’s pie that I do urge you to try

and this week it’s France’s turn to clash with the subcontinent as we try a spicy version of the classic potato dish, Pommes Boulangères.

The famous dish, traditionally made by housewives and then cooked in the local bakers’ oven, comprises potatoes layered with softened onions and stock, cooked until soft, with a crunchy top layer.

I figured that this would lend itself nicely to an Indian makeover, with the addition of a little special spice mix (I added my personal recipe here), fresh ginger and fragrant curry leaves.

After all, potatoes and spices are much used in India – for instance in the crunchy potato snack alloo tiki, or the famous Bombay alloo potato dish.

It certainly smells good as it cooks – the scent of the spiced chicken stock along with the garlic and ginger made it almost irresistible. And the curry leaves are pretty much essential here – they can be found in most large Indian grocers, and occasionally in supermarkets – and add a wonderful deeply savoury spiciness to everything they touch. Magical ingredient, and one I’m always keen to use.

As this is pretty much a sidedish, we have to add another element, and I thought I’d make up some spiced lamb skewers to accompany the potatoes.

Easy as anything to make up and cook, the whole dish makes for an exciting and easy supper which will have nostrils tingling all over the house.

You may wish to serve a little yoghurt (perhaps with some fresh mint) as a drizzle with this, but I think it’s lovely as it is, and certainly an entertaining twist on a classic supper dish.