Sharwood's Medium Curry Powder - 102g

Curry has been part of British home cooking for generations, and the yellow-labelled Sharwood's name has sat on supermarket shelves through most of it. For plenty of families, this was what curry meant: not a takeaway, but a Saturday pot on the hob.

People in Canada go looking for it by name because the old recipes do. The handwritten card from your nan says Sharwood's, the coronation chicken from every summer party tastes of it, and the blend you know is the one you want.

The pot holds 102g of powder, and since most dishes only need a teaspoon or two, it goes a long way. Keep the lid on tight and store it somewhere cool and dry in the cupboard. Stir it into mince, a sauce, a marinade or a mayonnaise, and adjust to taste as you go.

Sharwood's is best known in Britain for its curry sauces, mango chutney and poppadoms, and the powder tends to travel home in the same basket. A jar of chutney on the side and you have the full British curry night, the slightly chaotic kind.