Our very first post spoke about the delicious Padang style food, and with bags full of lamb left in the freezer I thought it best that I make use of the offcuts. Another Indonesian curry seemed appropriate.

When ever you read the travel guides like Lonely Planet they always make statements like, "make sure you eat like the locals do", "don't miss out on the street food". I haven't checked to see if those same statements are in the Indonesian Lonely Planet, and I'm not saying they are wrong, just that sometimes these statements are better suited to countries like Italy than the poorer third world countries.

No one can spend any significant amount of time on the Malay Archipelago with developing a taste for Ikan Bilis. A tiny dried anchovy that is abundant in the tropical waters and forms a major source of protein for many of the almost half a billion population that lives there. Though developing a taste for it may take some time. It wasn't until I was force fed it breakfast, lunch and tea somewhere in the jungles up behind Ipoh on Peninsula Malaysia that I developed a taste for it. A couple of young guides, who were responsible for cooking and supplies seemed to think that one large handful per person was the appropriate quantity to go in any and every dish. I cant say they were great cooks, industrious yes but not great. One meal was made entirely from plants found in the surrounding Jungle plus one handful of Ikan Bilis per person. Needles to say Ikan Bilis has become my second Vegemite, I love it but many simple cant handle it. Though here I present a recipe that almost everyone loves, after all half a billion people cannot be wrong.

If it seems like ages since the last post, it is, and I blame my previous landlord. No one explained to him that in a recession, prices go down. Anyway his house now sits empty, I have my internet back and the kitchen is in order.

Someone thought it would be a great idea to buy half a sheep so if the next few posts all contain lamb or mutton you know why. Although the recipe following was filed Indian cuisine, its actually a bit more of a fusion food, the recipe itself was adapted from one I gained from a Singaporean Indian. The use of tomato sauce is a dead give away.

A number of influences have bought about this version of Inspiration- A Curry Blog, the first being a good friend of mine who follows the blog and says "I wish I could cook some of this, it all looks delicious, however my girls wont eat spicy food. What can I cook for my kids?". As such I put some thought into it and remembered a curry i used to eat as a kid. Every time I went to the grocery store with mum I would dig around for a packet of Vesta Curry and Rice and make her buy a couple. This would be in reserves for when I came home to find boiling potatoes, carrots and pumpkin on the stove and lamb chops under the grill. Vesta Curry and Rice disappeared off the grocery shelves a long time ago, in fact for a while I could only find it in regional stores, usually a Coles on the northern NSW coast, however I often think fondly of it.It was nothing fancy really a sachet of dehydrated beef and veggies with a powdered sauce - just add boiling water.The flavor is actually similar to the Japanese curries that are gaining popularity across Australia at the moment, now appearing in a Westfield Food Court near you. So naturally when I thought of curries for kids; I started with Vesta Curry and Rice, which led me to Japanese Chicken Curry Don and then to an investigation into how to produce this unusual curry, which I believe will be enjoyed by young children. Other than my boy of course who decided he just wanted a can of baked beans poured over his rice.