How can I find Asian food stockists in my area

A. There are hundreds of Asian food stockists in most UK cities, and lots of opportunity to buy online or mail order.

If you're unsure about where to start, try looking at websites devoted to Asian cooking and ingredients.

Seasoned Pioneers (www.seasonedpioneers.co.uk) sells seeds, spices and seasonings, including less familar ones such as ajwain seeds and amchoor powder and rose-petal masala mix.

Rafi's Spice Box (www.spicebox.co.uk) sells only curry mixes online, but mail order is available. There's also a shop in Sudbury, Suffolk, where Rafi, a food writer from Hyderabad, is on hand. There's a large range of rice, flours and relishes.

Bristol Sweet Mart (www.sweetmart.co.uk) is the biggest seller of ethnic foodstuffs in south-west England. Their range runs to anardana, packet mixes for lentil and bean cakes, dosai and kulfi.

Mrs Bassa's Indian Kitchen (www.mbik.co.uk) sells Indian chutneys and pickles.

www.thecurryguide.co.uk/food lists 23 Indian food shops, half of which are in London.

www.thecurryclub.org.uk lists around 17,000 restaurants by town and country.

Q. What about specialist food markets

A. There is a lot of opportunity for regional food shopping in the UK.

If you live near Birmingham, head for the so-called 'balti triangle' around Sparkbrook and Molseley, where you'll even find locally brewed balti beer.

In Bradford, the Indian, Pakistani and Kashmiri communities have established many shops and restaurants. The largest Indian supermarket is near the university.

In Bristol, the east of the city houses Asian as well as Afro-Caribbean communities, which makes an exciting list of shops and restaurants. The Sweet Mart (web address above) is in St Mark's Road, Easton, the heartland of Bristol's Little India.

Leicester's Belgrave Road, called the Golden Mile because of its many gold shops, is the place for Indian restaurants, especially Gujarati. There are shops selling Indian pots and pans, rice by the sack, vats of cooking oil and bins full of spices.

In London, the capital's largest Asian community lies to the west, in Southall. There's a bustling Indian town which begins outside the station and runs up South Street, round into the high street and along Uxbridge Road, where there's a food and clothes market on Saturdays. Wembley, north of Southall, has a concentration of Indian shops on Ealing Road, open daily. Nearer central London, there is a cluster of Indian shops and restaurants in Drummond Street, NW1, off Hampstead Road.

In Manchester, take the Wilmslow Road to Rusholme, where there are numerous Indian restaurants and shops, including greengrocers and halal shops.

Q. What are the best Indian cookbooks

A. Try 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi (Kyle Cathie, 14.99), The Indian Kitchen by Monisha Bharadwaj (Kyle Cathie, 14.99), Foolproof Indian Cookery by Madhur Jaffrey (BBC, 14.99), The New Tastes of India by Das Sreedharan (Headline, 17.99), An ABC of Indian Food by Joyce P Westrip (Prospect Books, 4.99).

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by Katharine MacColl