The office Christmas party for staff and spouses was a roaring success. Secret santa gave my colleague a candy whip, my boss a book on how to be nice.

I got two bottles of greasy, glutinous tikka masala curry paste. Which my husband promptly appropriated declaring he hadn’t eaten decent curry for years.

Har har.

So I despise the rubbish passed off as curry around the world. And my ultimate goal is to get people cooking real Indian food, quickly and simply. Technically, this means I may have to suffer the odd crap joke or two, right?

Forget it, I tracked down and decked my Secret Santa.

It’s now time to cook real Indian food for the greater good of mankind. Spread the love, feed the world with Menu for Hope, the annual fund raising event from food bloggers everywhere for the UN World Food Program.

It’s a simple idea. Food bloggers like me offer delicious prizes, which our readers can then buy raffle tickets to win.

Up for grabs here is the only Indian cookbook you’ll ever need – the National Indian Association of Women Cookbook:

A seminal tome, this little wonder has been passed down the generations to many a hapless bride, emigrating student and clueless bachelor. It has the most popular classic Indian dishes from around the country, contributed by the women who know them well – aunties, mummyjis, and even the Oberoi Group of Hotels. If you have ever wondered how to cook a real Pork Vindaloo, this book is for you. It is only sold in India, so I will source a special copy for a very lucky person.

This is what first got me cooking Indian food, and I haven’t stopped since!

All you have to do is visit The Passionate Cook, to view the prizes available. Then follow these simple instructions:

1. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope4 and make a donation
2. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code
3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone
6. Check back on Chez Pim on Wednesday January 9 for the results of the raffle

Go on… tikka look at it now…