A CURRY’S warming effect on the body and its power to clear the sinuses make it a brilliant food for this time of year. And a healthy, economical alternative to the traditional take-away can be found in the range from Emily’s Kitchen, a new business run from a family home in Charlton Down.

Gary and Pauline Bate started Emily’s Kitchen in July and named it after their 13-year-old daughter, aptly, since she was the inspiration behind it.

Gary, the chef, was a mechanical engineer running a small consultancy in his former life and says the work ‘was not a million miles away from cooking’.

As Pauline began to work longer and longer hours as a national sales manager for Cadbury, Gary found he was cooking more and more for the family, and enjoying it. Eventually, the couple found that their roles had reversed. As Pauline had to travel more for her job, Gary decided upon a stay-at-home career where he could spend time with Emily. “All our friends and members of the family who had eaten at ours always raved about Gary’s food and loved his curries,” says Pauline.

The core range at Emily’s Kitchen incorporates warm, spicy flavours of varying strengths. There is the slow roasted creamy chicken curry; a curry sauce to add to your own favourite accompaniments; steak and pork ragu; pork tagine and two soups: the spicy carrot and ginger and curried parsnip and apple.

Currently the range from Emily’s Kitchen can be bought at three local farmers’ markets including Poundbury, Bridport and Wareham, and it is also stocked at Charlton Down Village Shop. What is Gary’s secret? Well, unlike many ready meals, the percentage of meat in his dishes is high.

“The steak and pork ragu is 40 per cent meat,” he says. “The pork added to the normal beef steak gives it a depth of flavour and the meat is locally sourced; we buy it from Genesis Farmers. In the chicken curry, there is a minimum amount of 8oz or 200g of chicken in a portion for two people.

“The curry is fairly creamy and not too hot, but the tagine, which is not strictly a curry, is a good deal more spicy. I make it with pork instead of lamb – again it is 40 per cent pork in a 720g portion for two people – and it made with soft fruit: apricots, dates, raisins, sultanas and almonds; it’s sweet with a kick.”

He continues: “But what we do is we only use fresh chillies and fresh ginger and raw spices, so it’s difficult to get it exactly the same every time, but there are no preservatives, no additives.”

“And it’s gluten-free,” interjects Pauline.

Frozen ready meals are not the first thing you would associate with fresh, locally sourced ingredients, but Gary is keen to emphasise that the freezing process is an unavoidable part of Emily’s Kitchen and not its raison d’être.

“Our whole ethos was to provided home-cooked meals without additives for people who like nice food, but do not want the bother of making it,” he says. “The meals can be microwaved, but we do not recommend it. They are better defrosted and cooked in the oven normally.”

Pauline and Gary plan to do tastings for the elderly in the community hall at Charlton Down, and to expand the selection to include milder dishes such as beef in beer. More meals will also be added to the range to take advantage of new seasonal ingredients, as they become available. “We are hoping to extend it to include a vegetarian curry and a lamb-based curry,” says Gary.

Why did the Bates choose to specialise in curries?

I suspect it is because they hail from the West Midlands, but Pauline explains: “When we started, we looked at the farmers’ markets, we were looking to do something a little bit different. So we decided to specialise in spicy food and the research paid off.”

Things are hotting up for the family business, which was awarded five stars by the environmental health team at West Dorset District Council. Crucially, the response from tasters has also been good.

Pauline says: “The lady who owns Harry’s Bar in Wareham has bought a delicatessen, where she will be selling our dishes. When we dropped a curry off with her, she said it was the best curry she’d ever tasted.”

Meals from Emily’s Kitchen can be bought at Londis in Charlton Down and the farmers’ markets at Poundbury, Bridport and Wareham. The business offers free delivery within a 5-mile radius for an order of £60 or more, approximately 10 items.