NO matter how carefully you follow the recipe, the curry you make at home never seems to live up to the one from the restaurant.

Sam Bond took a cookery lesson with Raihan Ahmed, chef at Balti Nailsworth, to find out where he was going wrong...

WHENEVER I try to make a curry at home, there can be but one result - an over-spiced slop that always disappoints.

Seeking professional help, I approached Bangladeshi chef Raihan Ahmed in search of pointers.

Raihan is the culinary mind behind the dishes at Nailsworth Balti which, you will be unsurprised to learn, put my amateur efforts to shame.

Doubtful that even his advice could help such a desperate case, I donned the chef's whites and followed him into the kitchen.

We decided to tackle a labra, a tasty vegetarian curry with aubergines, okra and spinach in a spiced lentil sauce.

The first surprise was how familiar the cooking utensils were - nothing that you couldn't find in your kitchen at home.

That, at least, was reassuring.

Most of the ingredients too can be picked up from any market or grocers and the few that can't can be bought in any of a number of specialist shops in Gloucester.

The cooking itself was less complicated than I had expected.

First the chopped aubergine is flash-fried in ghee, the purified butter used as an oil in most cookery, then the oil is drained off.

Meanwhile, finely chopped onions are also fried at a high temperature and once they start to caramelise a small dollop of tomato puree is added and the resulting paste is simmered for a few minutes.

So far so good, I can do this no trouble.

Then a bit of salt, curry powder and dried fenugreek leaves were added.

Again, no problem.

Next came the part I reckon I'll have a spot of bother with at home - the gravy.

Raihan produced a pan of ready-made gravy from nowhere and added a little to turn the paste into a lovely-looking golden sauce.

Raihan tells me it is made from onions, turmeric, garlic, ginger, vegetable oil and water. Apparently it's made the same way as you would make any other gravy.

"Different chefs use different spices, some add other things to it and others keep it simple," he tells me.

Next into the frying pan were mashed and pre-cooked lentils, along with the spinach and okra. By now it had really started looking, and smelling, like a curry.

A bit more gravy was added to make the consistency just right and once the sauce was ready the aubergines were added and the curry was then cooked for about five minutes.

"You really can cook it at home," said Raihan.

"You can use vegetable oil instead of ghee and you are better off using that in the beginning."

The finished dish tasted fabulous to me, but Raihan told me he would rather eat something with a bit more kick.

"When I feel very hungry and it's not possible to get spicy food, then I'll have a mild dish," he said.

I ask what proves popular in the kitchen and he tells me the staff can't get enough of katlima, a kind of fiery, spiced bread made of mashed potatoes and chick peas.

"When a customer orders one, we have to make two because otherwise it won't make it out of the kitchen and the customer won't get one at all," he said.

"They are irresistible for those of us who like hot food."

* Cookery lessons are available at the Balti Nailsworth for groups of three or more and cost £40 a head.

*The Nailsworth Balti is offering three lucky readers a free lesson.

Learn how to cook your favourite dish, as well as side orders like onion bhajis, pilau rice and popadoms and take everything you make home.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is send the answer the simple question on the coupon in this week's SNJ, and supply your name, address and daytime telephone number to Balti Competition, Stroud News & Journal, 6 Lansdown, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 1BE by Friday, October 3.

All usual conditions apply.