MANY of us Brits who go along for a curry of a weekend probably end up thinking that the mark of a good curry is how hot it is.

For many of us, a vindaloo hot enough to sear the tastebuds from our tongue is the only way to eat a curry.

But, actually, the secret to a good curry lies in the delicate mix of the spices.

Sashi Thapa, the chef and co-owner of Yetis, in Broadway, gave me a seemingly endless list of ingredients for the dish I was due to make, a vegetable tikka masala.

There is garam masala, which is a ready-made mixture of spices including cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, coriander, bay leaves and black pepper.

Also in the recipe is plum tomato sauce, turmeric, single cream, fenugreek, ginger and garlic paste, sugar, cumin, coriander and saffron.

Sashi started off the process by heating some oil in a frying pan, and then adding the garlic and ginger paste, which sizzled away.

After that, he put in the tomato sauce and instructed me to put in the spices, along with some cashew nut powder, one by one.

By now we had a colourful mixture which was sizzling away and giving off the most delicious aroma.

Under Sashi's expert tuition, I had to keep stirring our curry and using the back of a large flat spoon.

Next in the mixture was a little single cream and some curry sauce, which is pre-made by the restaurant from vegetables, carrots, onion, peppers and tomato.

I am a vegetarian, so there was no meat to go in, but instead a selection of pre-cooked vegetables including potatoes and peas.

Stirring this hearty mixture with a big flat spoon seemed a bit of a challenge to me, but Sashi, who has been a chef for more than 30 years, had the knack.

He managed to shake the pan to get the vegetables moved around, while simultaneously using the edge of the spoon to chop up the chunkier vegetables.

After about 10 minutes, the whole process was complete, and Sashi helped me serve up the curry, decorating it with a trickle of cream, some fresh coriander and a sprinkling of ground cashew nuts.

Now it was time to put it to the ultimate taste, and get two willing volunteers to give me their opinion.

ET chief photographer Rowland Hobson gave it the thumbs up.

He said: "It was a subtle curry, which brought out the flavours of the food, rather than just giving you the taste of the curry so you could be eating anything.

"It was really nice."

Digital journalist Tim Goddard also gave it the seal of approval.

He said: "I thought it was very full in flavour, with a more tomato taste than I though it would have.

"Sometimes I'm put off going to Indian restaurants because I fear how hot the curries might be, but the one you made was just right with lots of flavour without burning my mouth too much.

"With all the spices going into it I thought it was quite a complex flavour, but very nice."

Factfile on curry

A poll conducted by global research company www.OnePoll.com spoke to 3,000 hot food fans and found that one in 10 Brits eat curry out at least once a week, with men twice more likely to tuck into a curry session than women.

The nation's favourite main dish is chicken tikka masala, which is top choice for both men and women.

Men still tend to opt for hotter varieties like madras, jalfrezi and vindaloo, while women prefer milder dishes like korma.

The poll found that curry cravings start young, with more than a quarter of children asking their parents for curry to go on the weekly menu.

A quarter of men admitted to delving in the fridge the morning after to get a cold curry fix.

The nation's 10 top curries are chicken tikka masala, chicken korma, chicken madras, lamb rogan josh, chicken jalfrezi, chicken balti, chicken rogan josh, chicken dhansak, prawn korma, vegetable balti.