This is my all time favourite curry to make. This was one of the first I made but I constantly come back to it because it never goes wrong and never disappoints. The tang of tamarind should be strong, but balanced by the sweetness of the potato and peas.

If you think you haven't tried tamarind before, you probably have, as it's an ingredient in both Worcestershire Sauce and HP Sauce. The pod-like fruit of a tree, you can buy it in supermarkets either as a solid block or a runnier paste. You can use either, though it will take more for the more solid version to break down in the sauce.

Here the sweet potato is soft but sweet from roasting. I've also cooked it in exactly the same way but without the oil, which gives the same flavour but a much firmer texture. You need to keep more of an eye on it though, in case it catches.

Ingredients:

Spice mix
2 tsp corriander seeds
1½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp peppercorns
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp ground tumeric

500g sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 sweet white onion sliced
1 tsp ginger puree
½ tsp garlic puree
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
8-10 curry leaves
400g chopped tomato
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tamarind paste
400ml reduced fat coconut milk
150g frozen peas
A handful of unsalted cashew nuts

How to make it:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160C/gas 3.

2. Put the cubed sweet potato into a bowl and add 1 tbsp of oil. Mix thoroughly so that all the potato is lightly coated with the oil. Spread the potato out on a baking sheet covered with greaseproof paper and bake for around 20mins, depending on how big you've cut the cubes.

3. For the spice mix, grind the whole spices with a pestle and mortar to a fine powder, then add the chilli powder and tumeric.

4. Fry the onion on a medium heat for about 20mins, stiring frequently until it starts to brown. If you want to save time you can just fry it until soft but you'll get a deeper flavour with more time.

5. Add the spice mix, curry leaves, chilli flakes, ginger and garlic with the onion and cook for a couple of minutes, stiring to make sure the spices don't burn. If you think they're getting too hot, add a few splashes of water.

6. Add the tomato and turn the heat up a bit, then cook for a couple of minutes. Add the coconut milk, sugar and tamarind paste. Bring up just to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 15mins.

7. Taste to test the balance of tangy and sweet, adjusting the sugar and tamarind as needed. Season with a few pinches of salt.

8. Add the peas straight from frozen - you want them to defrost and warm through but not cook so long that they lose their flavour.

9. Toast the cashew nuts in a dry pan, moving them constantly to make sure that they brown but don't burn. Add them to the other pan.

10. Add the roasted sweet potato to the pan and stir through, making sure all the elements are hot before serving.

School dinners. They get a lot of bad press but I have very fond memories of my primary school meals.

My favourites were mince beef and onion pie (make sure you get the corner bit), homemade crisps, chocolate sponge with pink custard and semolina with jam. I think that last one might just be me.

But most of all what I hoped for was Manchester Tart. Well, at that time I didn't know that was what it was called, it was just jam and custard tart. It took another 30 years before I realised it had a proper name. I'd wanted to make it since then, but could it live up to the version at St Bartholomew's Primary School that the 8 year old me enjoyed so much?

These turned out even better than I remembered. I used creme patisserie to give a lightness and added some fresh raspberries to add a tang against the sweetness.

The pastry needs to be crisp, so use sweet pastry and don't roll it too thick. On the other hand, don't roll it too thin or it won't be strong enough to hold the contents. I used shop bought but if you've got the time (and the inclination) feel free to make your own.

Ingredients:

375g ready made sweet pastry
4 tbsp seedless raspberry jam
125g fresh raspberries
4 egg yolks
100g golden caster sugar
25g plain flour
1 vanilla pod
350ml whole milk
Desicated coconut

How to make them:

1. Remove the pastry from the fridge 30 mins before you start.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

3. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin with butter.

4. Roll the pastry out to about 3mm and cut out 12 rounds using a cutter a bit bigger than the hole in the tin (you might need a bit of trial and error here).

5. Put the pastry carefully into the holes - if you get any tears make sure you patch them with a bit of extra pastry.

6. To blind bake the pastry cases, tear off a small square of foil, fill with rice and place into the centre of each tart.

7. Bake for 8mins with the foil parcels, then remove from the oven.

8. Take out the foil carefully - if any of the pastry has managed to puff out too much, squish it with the end of a knife. It doesn't look that pretty but no one's going to see it and it'll taste just fine!

9. Return to the oven for 2-4mins until the pastry is light golden.

10. Take the tin out of the oven and allow to cool while you make the creme patisserie.

11. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy, then stir in the flour.

12. Put the milk in a saucepan. Slit down the length of the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds with the point of the knife. Add the seeds and pod to the milk and bring slowly just to boiling point.

12. Take the vanilla pod out of the milk then pour it slowly on to the egg/sugar mixture, stiring constantly with a balloon whisk.

13. Once the two are combined, put the new mixture back into the saucepan and bring back to the boil stirring gently with the whisk to stop it going lumpy. Let it boil for a few minutes, stirring until it thickens.

14. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl or jug to cool slightly. Make sure you cover the whole surface of the custard with cling film immediately so that a skin doesn't form while it cools.

15. Put a teaspoon of jam into the bottom of the cooled pastry cases and carefully spread it out. Put two raspberries onto the jam, pointy end up.

16. Spoon 3-4 tsps of the creme patisserie to fill the tart. You can get more in if you allow the first couple to set slightly before you go round again to add the rest.

17. Before the top sets too much, sprinkle liberally with the coconut.

18. Put in the fridge for at least 40mins to set. They'll last 2-3 days if they're kept in the fridge, before the pastry starts to lose its crispness.