Mia Yealands is a self-confessed curry addict - she keeps cinnamon sticks in her room, has eaten her way around India on four trips and has just launched a range of gourmet curry kits.

The launch of Love Thy Curry at Blenheim delicatessen-cafe BV Gourmet on Wednesday night was only hours after Mrs Yealands secured a deal to supply the Auckland delicatessen chain Farro Fresh Food.

Mrs Yealands was ecstatic to break into the Auckland market and wants her curry kits to be stocked right around the country.

"I never thought I'd ever be doing anything like this, but when I got back from my travels around India and couldn't find yummy food like over there, I decided to make my own."

Mrs Yealands grew up in Perth and moved to Marlborough in November with her husband Wayne Yealands, whom she met working in the Western Australia mines.

She has travelled extensively throughout Sri Lanka, India, Tibet and Turkey in pursuit of her passion for food.

"They go to the market every day and buy everything fresh and you can taste that freshness – their kitchens looked like crap, but the food was fantastic," she said.

There are eight classic curries in the Love Thy Curry range including "Kiwi favourite" Butter Chicken and "quick and easy" Goa Fish, and each come with a shopping list of fresh ingredients and instructions.

Mrs Yealands sources the herbs and spices including the hard-to-find dried fenugreek leaves from a Christchurch supplier, before individually packaging each kit, which serves six.

The emphasis on freshness was evident at the launch of Love Thy Curry where chef Desirae Ternent lead a cooking demonstration using the products, for about 20 members of the Zonta Club of Marlborough and their friends.

The pungent aromas of the spices as they were toasted and ground was enough to make the spectators' eyes water in the tightly packed kitchen.

As she whipped up three curries in an hour, Miss Ternent shared tips on a good curry such as tenderising a cheap cut of meat by cooking in a slow cooker after browning the spices, onions and meat, to save time and money.

Keen cook Tricia Jane said she enjoyed making food from scratch, but the long lists of ingredients could often be quite daunting and expensive.

"I will cook curry much more often now I don't have to shop around for the ingredients and then find I've forgotten something halfway through cooking."

Love Thy Curry is stocked exclusively at BV Gourmet on Park Tce and the price is $9.60 for each kit.

- The Marlborough Express

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