update It's good. I burned the first batch of onions, garlic and ginger, but I put in a bit of white wine vinegar and it added a smoky flavor that nicely complements the peppers.

I'm about to make a dish with the misleadingly-simple name "Pork with Peppers and Potatoes" from "The Food of India".

It's got 26 ingredients and I'm only skipping one, a "pinch of asafoetida" — a pungent, sulfurous spice that can be used in place of garlic and onion if it's well-fried. I'll just use a little extra garlic.

The recipe calls for seven types of "pepper" (ground black, red bell, green bell, ground paprika, ground cayenne, dried red chiles, fresh green chiles) ... thank God I'm almost over my cold, because this is a curry that deserves tasting.

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