Thanks all for the warm welcome.

 

Just one question, how do you get all the spices you need to be able to create these dishes on the Island of Crete?........

 Most of the more common whole spices are easily available, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, etc.

 There is a small Indian community on the North coast, they mainly work for a Greek produce packer.  They have there own shop, so that gives me access to most of the more difficult to source spices.

 Anything unusual is mailed out from the UK by my Indian step sun in law.... or delivered by family visiting....

 Fresh ginger, garlic, onions & peppers are easy...Most fresh produce is so good & inexpensive here...

 Chillies & fresh coriander aren't available, so I grow my own. Not difficult for most of the year in this climate. I bought some shop purchased chillies out to Crete with me a couple of years back & planted the seeds.... The plants went through last winter & started to grow again this spring... Coriander is more difficult in the summer...

 

  I visited a couple of restaurants when on holiday there and to be honest my friend and I could have gone into the kitchens and produced far better BIR fare than the crap that was dished up to us  .

 Yes... Have to agree, only used one restaurant out here & my rating would have been OK'ish but small portions & expensive....  

 That said I'm already adept enough to outshine their quality & price... I also have a few good expat friends who share the love of spicy food, so that helps. Eve is retired & used to live in the depths of Devon, she ran an Indian takeaway service from here cottage for the local pub... Femka is Dutch & professionally cheiffed at a London Vegetarian restaurant, She makes Onion Bhajis from purred sprouted chickpeas, rather than gram flour... Divine...

 Anyway.. must get on... still trying to build our house (& kitchen)....