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.

A place to watch

On By Daniel FordIn 2. Reviews (Other UK)Leave a comment

Am Kitchen and Bar, Leeds

There can few better surroundings in which to eat a curry than Am Kitchen and Bar. There’s the pay-through-the-teeth grandeur of legendary place like London’s Veeraswamy, of course, or the feet-in-the-sand style of Karma Café in Goa, but right here in the centre of Leeds there is a gem of a curry house.

Based in a former watchmakers, the property is a Listed Building boasting two levels with a large open well in the middle where you can look down on diners below, beautiful chandeliers, and a mind-boggling amount of intricate glass work panels and display cabinets. The necessary contemporary elements needed to operate a restaurant are incorporated into the space well, in particular the way the light grey high-backed chairs offset the dark wood of the tables. But best of all for the Greenwich Curry Club is a superb Greenwich Mean Time clock that takes centre stage over the bar that faces the entrance.

Greenwich Mean Time Clock. It's one of those that's only correct twice a day…

It’d be easy to get distracted from the main reason for being here, yet the Chicken Balti (with extra garlic as requested) delivered that beautiful fresh taste that baltis should and is well priced at £8.55, while there was also no problem adapting a hearty Keema Madras (£8.55) by adding some fresh green chillies. If you’re a starter fan you’ll struggle to find tastier Lamb Chops (£4.25); for a large table of people who can think of a better way to start the communal evening than with a large of pile of these?

By the end of the first bite I’d forgiven the staff for (what appeared to be) a deliberate policy of keeping people waiting at the entrance to ensure the front of house table are always occupied rather than filling up the empty places upstairs. In fact I was rather pleased because Briggate on a Saturday night is ideal for people watching. Coats are a complete no-no even as temperatures plummet. Instead boys seem particularly keen on tops so tight it looks like they’ve just got out the gym and girls on skirts so short that Am Kitchen’s very large Rotis (£1.10 each) would offer more cover.

Am Kitchen and Bar, 24-26 Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6EP. Tel: 0113 242 2626. E-mail: info@amkitchenandbar.com 

Am Kitchen and Bar snapshot

Food ① ② ③ ④

Decor ① ② ③ ④ ⑤

Value ① ② ③ ④

Atmosphere (Saturday night) ① ② ③ ④

Service and friendliness ① ② ③

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Where did that spice come from?

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

Spices in the supermarket, spices in the corner shop, spices online. Is there anywhere you can’t find spice in the UK these days? Thankfully for spice lovers, probably not. But ever wondered where it all started. It was, of course the huge British East India Company, who traded with, then ran India for many years. Discover how we got all our spices and what the early traders thought at the National Maritime Museum’s Traders Gallery, which has only been open for a few weeks. The gallery is open daily from 10am-5pm and entry is free.

Recipe… Bunny Chow with Chicken Curry

On By Daniel FordIn Recipes2 Comments
Right, now let’s get stuck in…

Bunny Chow with Chicken Curry
Serves 2

It’s simple, it’s rustic and it’s tasty… it’s a bunny chow! You’ll find someone selling them on every street corner in Durban, South Africa. Ideal for that steamy tropical climate, yet also great comfort food as the winter approaches in London. Cut off the bottom of a loaf, scoop out the white stuff leaving a crust shell. Fill with hot chicken curry (don’t forget the sauce now), settle down and use the bread you scooped out to mop up and eat your curry. No cutlery permitted.

Durbanite and bunny chow lover Richard says bunnies are best eaten sitting cross-legged while staring at the Indian Ocean with a bottle of ice-cold Coke by your side.

What you need
• 1 loaf of bread (it is best to use a loaf that has been left a day since buying it)
• 1/2 recipe Handi Chicken

How to make it
1. Cut the loaf in half and scoop out the bread
2. Fill each hollowed out loaf with the chicken

Become a curry chef

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

Fancy yourself as a bit of a curry chef? Now’s your chance to learn from some of the best. Cinnamon Kitchen (see review) is offering masterclasses from executive chef Vivek Singh or other curry kings such as head chefs Abdul Yaseen (Cinnamon Kitchen) and Hari Nagaraj (Cinnamon Club) in the surrounds of one of London’s best Indian restaurants.

Dates
Saturday 21 January: Detox with Abdul Yaseen
Saturday 25 February: Curry, classic and contemporary with Vivek Singh
Saturday 24 March: Seafood special with Rakesh Ravindran

Cost: £175

Bookings: events@cinnamon-kitchen.com

Where there’s smoke there’s tikka

On By Daniel FordIn 2. Reviews (Other UK)Leave a comment

New Jomuna, London, SW1V

I’m a sucker for the sizzle of tandoori on a hot serving plate so it was no surprise that as soon I saw a Chicken Tikka starter (£3.70) coming out of the serving hatch, I’d be ordering the same myself. But for all the sizzle and smoke in New Jomuna (and there is a lot of smoke in the upper section where the food comes out) there wasn’t much taste. The chicken was tender, the marinade was red, but alas that famous tandoori taste had left the building.

Oh dear, I thought. It really takes an effort to persuade my friend who is sitting opposite me to come out for a curry – not because he doesn’t like it, it’s just that his Indian wife of many years cooks a mean curry so it’s a case of coals to Newcastle. And now, on a rare curry together we are sitting near Victoria Station surrounded by smoke and decidedly average chicken tikka. But wait, his Chicken Tikka Puri (£4.95) comes quietly to the rescue. No sizzle, no smoke, just tasty meat and fluffy bread to soak the up the sauce.

And so it was all night. For every disappointing dish there was a good one. A Chicken Korai (£6.95) with a less than ‘special sauce’ but a great sweet and spicy King Prawn Dansak (£9.95) with decent enough sized prawns. An Aloo Chana (£3.70) that seemed to forget the aloo bit but a Keema Rice (£3.10) that was piled high with keema and was almost as good as a biryani I comment.

But, oh no, I’ve mentioned the wrong thing. Don’t get my friend started on biryanis. “All that effort and nonsense about the King of Dishes. Not worth it,” he concludes. Just as well I didn’t see a biryani coming out the serving hatch when I arrived really.

New Jomuna, 74 Wilton Road, London, SW1V 1DE. Tel: 020 7828 1401 or 020 7630 0238. E-mail: info@newjomuna.com.

New Jomuna snapshot

Food ① ② ③

Decor ① ② ③

Value ① ② ③

Atmosphere (Monday night) ① ② ③

Service and friendliness ① ② ③

New Jomuna on Urbanspoon

Curry tip of the week 2

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

To avoid it breaking up when stirring, use a firm fish when cooking a fish curry. Monkfish or cod works well. Even tuna.

Monsoon beer tasting

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

Monsoon beer is a relatively new beer trying to break into the Indian food market. From Christchurch, New Zealand, you’ll only find it in a handful of places at the moment, but it’s good so expect it to spread its wings to a curry house near you soon. The Greenwich Curry Club felt that it was its duty to have a beer tasting and curry night…

Monsoon Original Pilsner (5.6% abv)
Appearance
Head: average • Lacing: fair • Body: hazy • Colour: straw

Aroma
Hops: average • Malt: average • Yeast: average • Aromas: alcohol, apple

Flavour and palate
Body: medium • Texture: slick • Carbonation: soft • Finish: twang

Drinkability and experience
Flavour duration: average • Sweet: light • Acidic: light • Sour or bitter: moderate • Off flavours: butter

Best curry dishes…
Hot and spicy, lamb

Monsoon Strong Pilsner (6.5% abv)
Appearance
Head: frothy/lasting • Lacing: fair • Body: clear • Colour: amber

Aroma
Hops: light/average • Malt: light/average • Yeast: light • Aromas: alcohol, banana, liquorice

Flavour and palate
Body: medium • Texture: slick • Carbonation: soft/average • Finish: twang

Drinkability and experience
Flavour duration: average/long • Sweet: light • Acidic: moderate • Sour or bitter: light/moderate • Off flavours: butter

Best curry dishes…
Chicken, lamb

Monsoon Organic Pilsner (5% abv)
Appearance
Head: frothy/large • Lacing: sparse/fair • Body: hazy • Colour: straw

Aroma
Hops: light/average • Malt: average/heavy • Yeast: average • Aromas: alcohol

Flavour and palate
Body: medium • Texture: slick • Carbonation: soft/average • Finish: twang

Drinkability and experience
Flavour duration: average/long • Sweet: light • Acidic: light/moderate • Sour or bitter: moderate • Off flavours: salty

Best curry dishes…
Mild dishes, chicken

Many thanks to the Mitre Hotel for hosting the event. The curry was ordered from Le Popadom. And very good it was too.

Bhuni Shakarkandi (Roasted Sweet Potato)

On By Daniel FordIn RecipesLeave a comment

Serves 4

What you need
• 4 sweet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon amchoor (dried mango powder)
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 red chilli, roughly sliced
• few sprigs coriander, torn
• 2.5-cm/1-inch piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

How you cook it
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven for about 35 minutes or until tender. Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut into 2.5-cm/1-inch rounds.
2. Put the sweet potato in a bowl, add the chilli powder, cumin, amchoor and salt and mix well. Squeeze over the lemon juice, then add the chilli, coriander and ginger. Serve warm.

Recipe from Food of the Grand Trunk Road by Anirudh Arora and Hardeep Singh Kohli, courtesy of New Holland Publishing.

 

Bharwan Mircha (Pan-Fried Stuffed Chillies)

On By Daniel FordIn RecipesLeave a comment

Serves 4

What you need
• 4 red banana chillies (very large chillies for stuffing)

➠ For the stuffing
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra for frying
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 2.5-cm/1-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• Few curry leaves, chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and very finely diced
• 60g/2oz peas, defrosted if frozen
• 3 potatoes, boiled and very finely diced
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
•1 teaspoon chilli powder
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• juice of 1 lemon
• 30 g/11/4 oz Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 tablespoons mint and coriander chutney

How you cook it
1. Cut the chillies in half lengthwise, deseed and set aside.
2. Make the stuffing. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Add the ginger, green chillies and curry leaves and sauté for 1 minute.
3. Add the carrot and green peas and cook until soft. Add the potatoes, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Cook for 2–3 minutes. Sprinkle over the garam masala and lemon juice and check for seasoning. Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool.
4. Once cold, add the grated cheese and Mint and coriander chutney. Stuff the chillies with this mixture.
5. Heat a non-stick pan, add oil and cook the chillies for 1–2 minutes on each side over a low heat, turning regularly until golden. Make sure that the stuffing does not ooze out.

Recipe from Food of the Grand Trunk Road by Anirudh Arora and Hardeep Singh Kohli (courtesy New Holland Publishers)

Cinnamon and a kick

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

As many curry fundis know, whisky is a great drink to share with your favourite food due to the spicy notes in the drink. Cinnamon lovers will be pleased to discover Fireball, a Canadian liqueur made with whisky and a heavy, heavy dose of the spice. At 33% abv it certainly has a kick too. I suggest trying it with a fragrant biryani.