Last year was the year of the 3 Chilli Phall Challenge (see our other news). This is the year of the family curry. The dhansak, to be precise. When we went out meeting people at food fairs we were often asked if we did a dhansak blend, and realised it had to be added to our repertoire. So here it is: mild and tangy. I know you may think it should be hot and tangy,but we are trying to appeal to the widest possible audience here so take our lead and add some fresh chopped chillies when you fry your spices.

As it stands, our Dhansak is our mildest curry. The sauce contains 'secret sauce' (obviously!), a tin of tomatoes, lemon juice and 4oz red lentils (I know that should be metric but my coffee will get cold if I go and find out how many grams that is!). That's it, and then you add some other stuff. We suggest spinach, potatoes, cauliflower and chicken, but the variations are endless!

We often meet people with children who gobble down our dhansak (the children, not the parents). The eyes of exhausted mothers light up when they realise how easy it is to shovel lentils and veg into their picky kids, just by calling it a curry! And obviously it works brilliantly as a vegetarian or even vegan option. The concept of our 'secret sauce, and how easy it is to cook in batches and freeze, is also very appealing.

We do a whole range of curries which are suitable for busy families, from the good old Korma and Tikka to our Bangladesh curry (mild tomato curry for people not ready for our Madras, although the spices used are very similar) and Keema Peas (spicy lamb mince with peas thrown in at the last minute for a one-pot wonder meal).

When we set up bitspicy we tested our curries on our children, as we always find it tricky to judge the heat levels. Two years on and they will eat almost anything. It's all about training the palate so come on, teach your family good curry habits to stand them in good stead for a lifetime!