THERE'S hot news coming for curry lovers next month as Britian prepares to go "vindaloony" and jalfrezi crazy for National Curry Day.

Sponsored by Kingfisher Premium Lager, a popular brew in many Indian restaurants, National Curry Day will give everyone who enjoys the hot stuff a chance not only to partake in a few poppadoms, but also to raise money for charity.

Hundreds of Indian restaurants and other catering establishments will join in the red hot event.

This year all proceeds will go to the NSPCC to support their "Full Stop" campaign to eliminate child abuse, and to the Mother and Child charity which funds projects to help needy women and children on the Indian sub-continent.

In the UK there are now an estimated 7,900 Indian restaurants and the most popular food served has to be chicken tikka marsala.

All Indian restaurants taking part in Kingfisher National Curry Day on Tuesday, November 7, will make a generous donation from their takings from the day to this year's nominated charities.

Curry lovers can join in the fun and help boost the fund-raising simply by buying a meal on the day at a participating outlets which are advertised on the internet on the www.curryworld.com website. But be warned, although there are only a handful of local restaurants named at the moment, organisers say that most only put their names forward in the final run up to the event -- so watch the website!

Of course, if going to the curry house mid-week doesn't fit into your plans there would be nothing to stop you getting into the spirit of the event by cooking something up at home and making your own charity donation.

A wide range of ingredients for ethnic cuisine are readily available in supermarkets and local shops so even the most amateur cook can serve up something spicy for supper.

And one advantage of cooking at home for the health-conscious is that you will be able to keep an eye on the calories and nutrition content if you create the take-away taste in your own kitchen. Try the tasty recipes in this section to spice up your life on National Curry Day!

Kid's like curry too!

Don't underestimate the children when it comes to hot food ... they are often more adventurous with their food than we imagine.

This is a good recipe for using some leftover chicken or, if you have no chicken, just use peas and sweetcorn.