If a curry recipe includes vinegar (eg. Vindaloo) but you find its taste a bit too tart, then use good old tomato ketchup instead, which contains vinegar.
Author: Daniel Ford
Daniel Ford is a media entrepreneur, writer, editor and publisher who specialises in launches and re-launches. He is the Publishing Director of media company Chase My Snail. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of GQ (South Africa), Editor-in-Chief of Sunday Life magazine (Independent News & Media) and CEO of the African design magazine Ogojii. He has consulted on digital media, magazines and books in England, India, the USA and South Africa, including creating a glossy print edition of the SABC's TV show Top Billing and branding for the Laureus World Sports Awards. He has written a number of books on fitness, sport and travel, which have been published all over the world, from China to Africa and from Russia to Australia. He loves carefully crafted words, digital and print publications produced with passion. And curry.
Curry tip of the week 21
Onion, particularly white onion, can sometimes produce a bitter taste. To remove this bitterness boil the onions in water for a couple of minutes after chopping.
Royal Greenwich Curry Club
“Thank you for coming Wills,” we all said as he tucked into his curry.
“No problem, I’m enjoying this curry. I’ve had it up to here with roast lamb and mashed potatoes. Sheep, sheep, sheep; they’re everywhere I look these days.”
“Well that’s your fault for becoming a helicopter pilot and getting sent to an island in the middle of the Atlantic,” replied our less than diplomatic member.
Luckily Wills (we were becoming chummy by this stage) had already granted the Greenwich Curry Club with its royal status by this stage so there was no turning back.
“It seems only right and proper,” he had announced in a moving ceremony over poppadoms and pickles earlier.
“My grandmother has conferred royal status on the Greenwich Borough. Now the hard-working families of Britain [he copied this bit from the politicians] who love curry can also enjoy such status. From henceforth you will be known as the Royal Greenwich Curry Club.
“Is there any more of this lime pickle?”
The elephant’s ear and Prince William
Sartaj, London WC2
I’m not sure how big your family is but chances are the Sartaj in London’s West End is used to welcoming very large ones. Its family nan (£4.95 plus £1 if you want it stuffed with garlic, onion, cheese, coriander or mince meat) is ridiculously large at something like 60cm long by 40cm wide but it’s worth ordering just for the experience.
At first glance it looks like a giant pizza and next time I shall order one and pile three or four different curries on it, so maybe it could develop into one eventually. Either way, the elephant ear – as it was dubbed – was certainly enjoyed by the Greenwich Curry Club’s special guest, Prince William, who made an appearance to confer royal status to the curry club.
In terms of value, when you consider a normal-sized nan is £2.50, the family nan is exceptional value. But there is good value to be found on all parts of the menu at Sartaj.
The Tandoori Mix for two (£5.95) has sizzling portions of chicken tikka, sheek kebab, king prawn and fried onions, which sends a delicious aroma around this smallish curry house, while the Tandoori Lamb Chops (£3.95) was nice and meaty (although it lacked that deep tandoori taste so it could have benefited from a longer period of marinating). One twist was that puree starters – Chicken Chat Puree and Kebab Bashiri (both £3.95) – were served rolled up in the fried bread, rather than being placed flat on the bread as in most other restaurants.
All mains were served in beautiful deep dishes – ideal, in fact, for dipping in chunks of the family nan (which never seems to get any smaller no matter how many bits are torn off it). Thumbs up go to the Bengal Crab and King Prawn Curry (£10.50), its sauce thickened nicely by a generous amount of shredded crab and good amount of fair-sized prawns, and Nawabi Lamb Massala (£10.50) with its soft meat falling off a shank into a thick and dark bhuna sauce. Both meals are fit for a Prince.
Sartaj, 26 Earlham Street, London, WC2 H9LN. Tel: 020 7831 1413. Open: Mon–Wed noon–2pm and 5.30pm–midnight, Thur–Sun noon–midnight.
Sartaj snapshot
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Curry tip of the week 20
If you’re cooking up a batch of curry to freeze always remember to under cook the dish(es) by a few minutes. The final bit of the cooking will be completed when you have defrosted and reheated the curry
Turning up the heat
Chirag, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote
(Takeaway)
The way the chef cooked my Chicken Dopiaza (€7.50) in Chirag reminded me of dishes I’ve seen being cooked in India. The open kitchen makes it possible to marvel at how the ingredients are added to the high-heat pan so it seems as if they are flash cooked – although there was no rush here, the dish taking 20 minutes so it was certainly fresh.
This was a rich, and tasty dopiaza with a good amount of ‘double onions’ as the dish describes but not the overload you get in the British Indian restaurant (BIR) style of cooking most of us are used to. This had more depth and richness and the onions emerged in the dish rather than simply swamping it. Who hasn’t ordered a dopiaza and felt that it’s simply a curry with some onions tossed in at the end? Not here.
Add in the multi-coloured pilau rice (€2.95) which seems to be a favourite in these parts, and a chapatti (€1.50) and you’ve got a decent-priced takeaway to enjoy on your apartment balcony while looking at the sea.
Other: free popadum with the menu leaflet.
Delivery: free home delivery on orders over €30.
Beer while you’re waiting: Fully licensed if you want a beer here or there are loads of bars nearby.
Chirag, C/Roque Nublo, 15, 35510 Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote. Tel: +34 928 51 29 47.
Chirag snapshot
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Curry tip of the week 19
Are you looking to achieve that bright, red appearance in Tikka and Tikka Masala dishes without resorting to using the colouring that’s still used in some restaurants? Paprika is your friend
Curry with a view
Indian Aroma, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote
It’s nice to see a familiar face. Just a couple of days after visiting Indian Zaffran it was time to head down to ‘The Strip’ to check out sister restaurant Indian Aroma. And there was the waiter who served me before. “Hello again, I’m helping out down here today.”
Aroma is in the New Town (the Strip is where all the action is) whereas Zaffran is in the Old Town. The food, as you’d expect, is on a par but they haven’t just replicated the place and the decor is more contemporary. Aroma has got the benefit of a sea view and sun on the pavement tables outside.
I suppose it should be fish right by the sea but this is all about finding something hot. No messing about then: Chicken Vindaloo (€7.50 plus 5% tax) and Lamb Chilli Masala (€10.75 plus 5% tax) both in a especially thick, rich and dark sauce. Both dishes were, as you’d expect, hot to trot, although for some reason they sound even hotter when described in Spanish.
So for the record it was Un Plato de Goa Famosa por ser Picante (€7.50) and Hecho con Pimiento Verde y Salasa Picante (€10.75). Not really worth saying anything else after that is there?
Indian Aroma, Avenida de las Playas 14, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, tel: +928 528 405 (reservations) or +928 512 747 (deliveries). Open: daily noon–3pm, 6.30pm–11.30pm. indianaroma@hotmail.com
Indian Aroma snapshot
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A good whisky aroma
Indian Zaffron, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote
Originally recommended by the Morrocan kebab shop owner (Mister Kebab does a good kebab by the way), this seems to be the universally accepted ‘best curry house in area’ when you talk to the locals. This includes an ex-pat I meet when checking out the Indian Zaffron, who was celebrating his daughter passing her driving test. “There are others,” he said. “But this is the best,”
I’d had a little takeaway taster here before and the Chicken Dansak (€6.95 plus 5% tax) was pretty much one of the best I’ve tasted, the thick, dark sauce enhanced by the use of yellow chana lentils instead of the usual split red ones. But better still, this was a decent value Canary Island curry when compared to inflated prices found on Tenerife. Does it really cost that much more to get spices to this neighbouring island?
So intrigued was I to see all my favourite dishes in Spanish (strange that in Spain, eh?) that I ordered a Torta Crujiente de Lentejas (that’s a papadom to you and me €0.99 each plus tax), which in itself is strange. Still, it gave me just enough to find the dish I’d never knew even existed: a Chandigarh Sizzler, a lamb curry cooked in a whisky infused sauce (€12.90 plus tax).
I have extolled the virtues of whisky and curry on this site before and have created whisky-curry pairing menus so know this drink works beautifully with Indian food but I have yet to find a dish that uses it. But I’m glad I have
Cooked with Ballantines apparently, the whisky gave the dish a real richness, although wasn’t overpowering with the taste of whisky (more of an aroma) once it had been cooked through. I was impressed and think the choice of lamb is certainly the right meat as it absorbs the subtle flavours beautifully.
And to top it off there was a nice pilau rice (€2.25 plus tax) in the multi-coloured 1980s style of Brit curry houses. yes, I know it doesn’t taste any different with all the colouring but it looks nice. And it was going to take more than that to knock me off my stride once I’d found my whisky curry.
Indian Zaffran, C/Juan Carlos I, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, tel: +928 528 405 (reservations) or +928 512 747 (deliveries). Open: daily noon–3pm, 6.30pm–11.30pm. indianzaffran@hotmail.com
Indian Zaffran snapshot
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Curry tip of the week 18
Think Korma is just a mild, creamy dish? The dish can be spicy. Add some fresh red chillies to your next Korma for a great balance of smoothness and heat.
The Royal Curry Club 