My niece got married at the beginning of the summer – an elaborate and jolly wedding for 400, which is considered intimate by most big, fat Indian wedding standards. After five days of several ceremonies, outfit changes and bhangra dancing until the wee hours, it’s no wonder that she has taken a five-week honeymoon travelling across Thailand and Indonesia to recover. Her Instagram photos of sunsets, crystalline beaches, cocktails and platters of delicious food make me long to get away, but, for now, I can enjoy similar faraway flavours remotely by cooking with fragrant herbs, red hot chillies, lemongrass and lime leaves, and complex condiments such as fish sauce and tamarind.
