Those familiar with Indian cooking will probably understand that it is characterized by delicate spicing and diverse cooking techniques and if you live around Randallstown, Akbar Palace could be just the right place to try this eclectic cuisine.

Mulligatawny soup, deep fried, battered cottage cheese or ground lamb mixed with onions, peppers and spices roasted in a clay oven could be a good way to start. Seafood specialities include succulent pieces of crabmeat simmered in onions, tomatoes, fennel seed and a touch of green coriander in cream sauce, and large shrimps in delicate spices and creamed spinach. Cruise down south and taste some delights of the region such as lentil donuts, stuffed flat rice pancakes and steamed rice dumplings all of which arrive with cooked lentils and coconut chutney.

At dessert time the creamy white texture of rasmalai, cottage cheese dumplings in flavoured milk, topped with nuts, may seem alluring.