Doesn’t this dish look amazing? It is one of several that Kuldeep Singh and his chefs cooked for me to show just what they can do. This Thai dish, prepared in front of me by Sanjeev Chhetri in the Tree Hotel kitchen, features karachai, a member of the ginger family. It looks rather like a bunch of yellow fingers and is always added to Thai fish dishes. The fact that ingredients like karachai have to be bought from specialist shops is one reason why dishes cooked by a qualified Thai chef always taste far better than anything we can cook at home. The proper combination of ingredients is regarded as an art in Thailand and takes years to perfect.

YOU WILL NEED One 700g lobster — head removed and flesh chopped.

1 tspn chopped garlic 2 tspns red onions — chopped fine 1 tspn red chilli — chopped fine 2 tspn coriander roots — chopped fine 3 tspn Karachai — chopped fine Two Kaffire lime leaves Six to eight sweet basil leaves — deep fried until crisp for garnish 1 tspn fish sauce, 2 tspn oyster sauce ½ tspn salt and 1 tspn sugar, few pinches ground peppercorns Oil to fry lobster head and small quantity of batter for lobster flesh.

METHOD Sanjeev prepared a paste in a mortar and pestle with garlic, onion, chilli, coriander and Krachai.

He then fried the lobster head and tail in hot oil until it turned from black to red. He drained the head and set to one side.

The main flesh was dipped in a thin batter then fried until crisp, drained and set to one side.

Using a small amount of oil he cooked the paste, adding salt, pepper, sugar and lime leaves until a glorious aroma filled the kitchen.

Fish and oyster sauce were added next, then the fried lobster pieces.

He then removed the mix from the heat and assembled the dish, starting with the lobster head and building it up as illustrated, adding fried basil leaves, sliced cucumber and tomato as extra garnish.