I had one of these a couple of years ago which I kept on the window-sill.  It was fine for a while but eventually started to turn yellow.  I'm almost certain I over-watered it.  Thinking of getting a new one at some point.

Thank you all.  I'm back there again tonight. 

Thank you both.  I did have a look on ebay without any luck to find them.  I found another thread discussing this and somebody there mentioned that they had an ebay supplier.  Anybody know of any on-line supplier(s)?  Regarding the chef, maybe he wasn't aware of the European variety.  Next time I go, I might take an European leaf to show them what I meant when I said they are different. 

I've been looking at one of H4ppy's curry videos and he talks about using Asian bay leaves.  I haven't seen any of these being sold where I live.  I did see them being used in an Indian restaurant the other night but the chef said to me that they were no different to local bay leaves.  They certainly look different.  Would you guys on this forum think that I should try and get my hands on the Asian type or are the European ones adequate to use as a substitution?  Any thought?

When I eat Indian food I don't control portions.  But then, I don't eat it every night.  I've been to two rice eating countries; China and Thailand.  They ate it with almost every meal and there were few fat people around.  Although I believe that's changing now with the introduction of McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza outlets and KFC to their countries.

I found out what those things with stones are.  Prunes!  But they'd obvioussly been spiced up somehow.

And the powdered stuff that they were putting into curries which I thought contained the prunes but I now don't think so is Chat massala.  They were a lot friendlier tonight.  And I got a bottle of wine for Christmas and a 'staff curry' which was great at the end of it.  I've only just got home.  But I'm happier that I was this time last night.

Regarding the ingredient I mentioned, I'm wondering if they were Tamarind pods.

Edit to say that I've just google tamarid pods and no, they don't look anything like what I saw.

Les,

I'm going to try again tonight and see how it goes.  Have you ever done this?  If so, did you find openess and an enthusiasm to teach or impart some knowledge?  He won't say anything directly.  He said that 'We have to start with the washing up.  Then with pereparation.  Then the tandoori and then lastly, the main chef.'   It will take me about years to learn anything since I'll be delievering during the busiest times.  When I was there, it was really quiet.  The only thing I got to do was peel the garlick and wash some dishes.  I don't want to get in the way.  At the moment I'm a bit dissapointed but I'll try again.

I had an evening a few nights ago in an Indian restaurant.  On one of their shelves were these little 'blocks' of something or other.  They were about the size of pebbles and in all shapes.  Maybe they were about 2 cms across and in length but varied because they weren't square but irregular.  I asked what they were and the owner couldn't give me their name.  I was given one to eat and fistly, they washed off a covering they had.  Then you just stuck it in your mouth and chewed.  One of them said it was a kind of 'sweet'.  They said it would be 'hot'.  But I didn't think so although there was a tingling sensation.  It was pleasant and I helped myself to another later.  There was what I would imagine to be a stone as in a seed in the middle which you had to discard from your mouth after suching and chewing.  Anyway, there was a powdery substance next to their cooking station and I asked what it was and they said that it was what I had been eating but ground up.  They were putting this into at least some of their curries.

I've been asking the owner for a long time to give me some lessons and this week he's allowed me to come in.  I get the impression that he's not being that helpfull and he's mentioned that on Friday's and Saturday's he would like me to do some car delieveries between 6 and 9 pm and I'm thinking that this is the reason he's allowed be to join them.  I asked him if I could be there when they make their master sauce / vegetable prep etc and he said that I could but he didn't know when that would be.

I asked him about another powdered stuff which they put into most of their curries and he said that it took him 3 years to come up with it.  It's a mixture.  He mentioned ginger powder, mango powder and cumin powder.  But there's already a pot of cumin next to it so I'm taking it with a pinch of salt (or should that be cumin?).  He said that I can't know everything from day 1.  I'm really not sure how productive this is going to be.

Why would you say that 'most curries are unhealthy'?    Fresh ingredients and spices.  You don't have to add coconut although I do occasionally.  But the fact that this guy suffered a major reaction hardly means it's detrimental to everybody's health.  In fact, the vast majority of humans who eat coconumt cream/milk don't suffer any acverse side effects.  It's a staple in some countries such as Thailand.