There's always room for a good curry on the menu, and at home it can be done quite easily. To get the professional's information on how to do that I visited the new Crowne Plaza Hong Kong on Leighton Road in Causeway Bay.

One friendly dining option that is ideal for groups - big or small - is the format that always reminds me of those marvelous Hawker's Stalls we used to see in Singapore and there are some of similar concepts in Cooked Food outlets around Hong Kong.

But with more style and a better ambience, the multi-food station called Kudos in Crowne Plaza has the open kitchen offering a number of different cuisines. One station is under the auspices of Indian Chef de Partie Durga.

Durga understands the many spices and how the way you use them and how the amounts of each spice that you use can play a big part in the outcome, the final result, for each dish.

"Even the order of use is important," He says. "Indian food isn't just one style of cooking, it's many."

Here is an adaptation of Durga's Crowne Chicken Curry at Home for Two recipe: Take enough pieces of cut-up chicken for the number of people eating, a good rule of thumb is one or two pieces of thighs or breasts per person, and fry them gently in vegetable oil for 10 minutes, turning them over once or twice.

As this is cooking prepare and heat the following *freshly ground spices in a frying pan with vegetable oil, (a teaspoon of each is a good start but you can vary the amounts according to your preferences); 1 tspn each coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamom and black cardamom cracked open, Continue to grind adding 6 cloves, 1/2 inch piece of cinnamon stick, and 1 tspn of turmeric powder and a touch chilli powder. Salt to taste. Add 1 finely sliced yellow onion and a medium sized tomato cut into pieces plus a 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger thinly sliced, sliced garlic, and continue to fry for 5 minutes.

This can be served with plain boiled rice (takes 16-20 minutes to cook so put it on as you start cooking the curry. Or serve with Naan bread, if you cannot access the Naan, I find a good substitute is pita bread.

Or make quick flat bread from 2 cups (1 cup = approx 5ozs) all-purpose (plain) flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 3 tspn baking powder, 1 packet dried yeast, 1 tspn sugar, good pinch salt, mix well then add 1 Tbsp olive oil and enough water to bind it all together. Knead well (the exercise is good for the upper arms and chest muscles) and let it rest in a warm place for 1 or 2 hours or so until it rises. Punch it down and let rise again. Dust a flat surface with a little flour and roll out the bread to 1/4 inch thick. Bake in a medium hot oven or in a steamer for 12 - 15 minutes. You can freeze this as soon as it has cooled down.

Durga says, "We all know it's entertaining for the people to watch us at work, but we also get to make the diners happier because we can talk to them directly and know more about what they want, so it's friendlier for us too".

*If you use a coffee grinder for the spices be sure to clean it well after use, or keep one just for spices. Or grind them in the traditional way in a pestle and mortar. Or put them in a plastic bag and crush with a heavy pan.