Curry food hamper - what to include?

[Gottalovecosta]

Hello,
My husband is SO hard to buy for. It's his birthday next month, he's a real foodie. He's been looking at a curry cookbook and I had the idea to buy it, along with some main ingredients and other things to fill a hamper/basket. I was thinking of adding some fresh herbs and balti dishes as well. Does anyone have any other ideas I can add to it?

Thanks

A spice grinder or pester and mortar? Whole dry spices? (They keep better and look nicer!) How are you giving the fresh herbs? Pot of coriander? Pot of chilli? Tins of coconut milk if you need to bulk it out?

How about including a grow your own chilli kit. They're really easy to grow and he could harvest his own chillis for making curries in the future.

Fancy mango chutney, lime pickle etc.

Some naans/popadoms?

Maybe include a couple of bottles of Indian lager too, to accompany the curry.

A chilli plant , Homebase have some ATM and Sainsbos.
Curry leaves, Indian stores sell bags
Ditto black mustard seeds
My Indian friend also gave me a pot of her mothers masala. It is amazing.
Def a coriander plant

If you're going to an Indian store you should throw in some alphonso mangoes as they're in season at the moment.

Yes get thee to an Asian supermarket!
I'd include -

• fresh garlic, chillies and ginger
• bunch of fresh curry leaves or fenugreek
• some interesting unusual vegetables e.g. bitter gourd or karelia
• some packets of individual spices - ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, asafoetida, amchoor (mango powder), panch phooran (a type of spice mix)
• Some 'fun' packets of stuff e.g. falooda mix
• a small bag of besan (gram flour - to make bhajis)
• a pack of paneer (indian cheese used in curries)
• couple of bags of pulses if he is into cooking with them e.g. channa dal, to make a lovely dhal
• pack of chappati/roti or some maida (wholewheat) flour to make some

Indian cookware is great - look out for a tawa (a slightly curved flat iton, great for making chappatis); a heavy weight solid granite mortar and pestle; stainless steel lassi cups; masala tin etc.

Love Asian supermarkets! Luckily am spoilt around where I live.

And yes to the mangos - they are superb.

A coffee grinder used to grind spices.

If you are ear an Asian grocer they sell wonderful things.

Rose water.
Dried mango.
Tamarind
Jaggery (palm sugar in a block)
Whole spices rather tha group ones
Dried Kashmir chillies

I recommend a really good curry cookbook which is very cheap and is my curry bible www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Curries-India-Camellia-Panjabi/dp/1856265463/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368743561&sr=8-1&keywords=camellia+panjabi

Saffron for making Indian rice pudding.

Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds

Tamarind paste (you can get it in Waitrose and it is soooooooo lovely).
Chaat mix
Coconut milk
Channa dhal
Geeta's mango chutney is gorgeous
Lime pickle
Aubergine pickle

I would decide on a cookbook and then flick through to find what you would need. Choose what you think DH would actually cook and buy the ingredients.