If you like a taste of curry with just about everything how about this curry-flavoured ketchup. Found at the sausage stall in Lewisham along Lee High Road by the large butchers. It’s £3.60 for 875ml. Fish and chips anyone?
Tale of East
The Tale of India, London E14
West India Dock Road is hardly the most salubrious place for a meal but the Tale of India is great little neighbourhood curry house and judging but the numbers in there the neighbourhood knows it too.
Interestingly there are four Assamese (East Indian) dishes on the menu. Assam is one of the seven Indian states tucked away far to the east and is only joined to the rest of the country by a thin strip of land in West Bengal. Assam itself borders Bhutan and Bangladesh and is pretty close to Myanmar (Burma) and China although Assam often refers to a group of people as well as the place. So now you know. Plus I get to slip a map into the blog.
Right, history lesson over. The four Assamese dishes on offer (Salaam, Shorisha Batta, Baluchory and Shashli Khana) are all hot, with chick peas, green chillis and spring onion featuring prominently. Salaam (£6.95) is excellent and comes with spinach and lime skin plus a thick sauce of tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, cariander and capsicum. Chicken or lamb, take your pick.
Away from the east, old-school classics like Madras and Dhansak are priced at £6.50-£6.95 and the chef must be very special because he has an extensive list of specialities. The lamb in the Garlic Chilli (£6.95) was melt in the mouth but should be tried if for no other reason than to acknowledge the refreshing humour in the menu, which warns that the garlic is not suitable for vampires. Good stuff.
The Tale of India, 53 West India Dock Road, London, E14 8HN. Tel: 020 7537 2546. Open: Sun–Wed noon–2.30pm and 5.30pm–11.30pm (midnight on Thurs–Sat).
The Tale of India snapshot
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New (ish) takeaway
Moghul, SE10
It’s been there a bit now, but for those who have missed it the Moghul, well known as the only Indian restaurant in central Greenwich, have opened a takeaway version where the Bombay Bicycle Club used to be. Find it at 192 Trafalgar Road, Se10 9TZ. Tel: 020 8858 1500. http://www.moghulindian.co.uk. Open: Mon–Sat 5pm-10.30pm, Sun 5pm-10pm (last orders 20 mins before closing). Free delivery for orders of £15 and more.
Cocktails and dream food
Cinnamon Kitchen & Anise, London, EC2M
A curry lover knows he’s found heaven when even the cocktails are spiced. At Cinnamon Kitchen & Anise skip the usual Cobra (£3.50) and delve into the mixer menu. Try the spiced martini with vodka that’s been beautfully infused with cardamon and cinnamon and topped off with a star anise or a spiced kir royal with cassis, champagne and green chillies. This is a place that takes its ingredients seriously.
The menu’s not overcrowded with options but it’ll take you a long time to decide what to settle for. Korma of root vegetables, green peas paratha (£12) with masala mashed potatoes (£2.50)? Maybe Rajasthani roast red deer, stir-fried mushrooms (£32) with black lentils (£3.50)? Or why not keep it simple with steak and chips (officially Scottish Angus fillet with masala potato chips, £25)?
Kick off with Lahore style ‘chapli’ kebab, minced venison cooked with crushed garlic and chilli (£7.50) and flattened. You’ll find garlic and chilli play a big part in the menu but then you wouldn’t be here if you weren’t a fan now, would you? Fat chilli with Hyderabadi lamb mince (£5.50) for more top-quality meat and for those who are really into chilli.
Pollack’s strong taste may be to everyone’s taste but it’s ideal with green spices (mint and coriander) and a creamy yoghurt rice (£12) while the vegetables were crunchy and tasty to perfection in the side dish of Stir-fried greens with cumin & garlic (£3.50). You’ll find more meat and [you’ve guessed it], garlic by ordering Char-grilled rump of lamb with garlic and spinach (£20).
Ideally located just an alleyway’s walk up from Liverpool Street Station the restaurant is tucked away in a covered square where business people and other diners can take advantage of the dry, warm weather (all day long on weekdays). Inside it’s smart and contemporary styled.
The only thing that leaves a bad taste in Cinnamon is the existence of a camera in the toilets. Call me old fashioned but I do prefer a pee in peace.
Cinnamon Kitchen & Anise, 9 Devonshire Square, London, EC2M 4YL. Tel: 020 7626 5000. Open: weekdays 7am–midnight. Saturdays 6pm–midnight.
Cinnamon Kitchen & Anise snapshot
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Simply does it
Raka, London E14
There are certainly no airs and graces about Raka, this Indian come kebab and burger joint.
But while its 1970s English caff decor won’t will any prizes its food certainly could.
Served up in patterned bowls, which makes a change from the usual shiny standard issue curry house serving dishes, the Chicken Acharie (£5.95) had a great balance of tanginess from the pickle and kick from the chillies.
The meat (which had been in the tikka oven) was top notch and perfectly cooked. Plain rice (£1.75) is the ideal accompaniment with Acharie I reckon so nothing competes with its tastes.
The menu includes all the old school favourites at excellent prices (Lamb Vindaloo £4.95, Prawn Dhansak £5.50, Chicken Rogon £4.95) and a few interesting dishes which have to go on the ‘to be tried’ list. How about Exotic Papri Massala (£6.95) cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger, roasted peppers and tamarind or the medium spiced Kalia (£6.95) cooked with herbs and mint?
Raka, 258 Poplar High Street, London, E14 0BB. Tel: 020 7719 8808. Open: daily, noon-11.30pm.
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Don’t be sluggish
Sorry for the awful headline but check out Tikka Tuesdays at the pub chain Slug and Lettuce (there are over 70 of them, see Slug and Lettuce for a list of them). And as an added bonus small bottles of Cobra are £2.50.
Choose from Chicken Tikka Makani, Beef Bhuna, Lamb Madras, Goan Vegetable Curry, Chicken Korma, Thai Green Curry, Channa Dhal and Prawn Makani.
It’s also worth noting that it’s 50% off food on Mondays too for a more limited choice of curries.
Pick ‘n’ mix
Bombay Duck, Hull
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On the surface the Bombay Duck has not got a lot going for it. Situated in what was once named the worst city to live in the UK by Channel 4. Situated in the semi-industrial outskirts of the said city. Serving a buffet. And, horror of horror, offering Indian and Chinese food (surely none can be any good then?)
Can a restaurant offer more than one type of food and do any of them decently? Ordinarily you’d have to say no. You want a steak you head to a steakhouse. You want pasta it’s an Italian. If it’s good at Indian it can’t be any good at Chinese and vice versa. Yet this place is. Being a curry man I never tried the Chinese but the recommendations were high and judging by the queues these were accurate.
On the curry front, a tasty Dhansak, super tender Chicken Tikka and excellent vegetable dishes such as Chilli Vegetables and favourite Bombay Aloo get the thumbs up. There are a great choice of sauces and pickles so mix and max accordingly. You have to order nans separately so they come fresh, with Peshwari seeming to be the speciality from the word around the serving trays.
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It was there I met the designer (not of this one but the others owned by the same people – there’s a restaurant called Curry just up the road and a new one serving exclusively Chinese dishes coming soon) and he says the key has been the large windows to the kitchens, giving diners full confidence in the restaurants’ cleanliness. Add in a large, open waiting area and modern, clean-cut, wood-dominated decor and they seem to have hit a winner.
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The only downside was the desserts, which seemed a bit of an afterthought (chocolate cake, fruit salad and jelly!), when a simple sorbet or kulfi would have gone down a treat.
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The buffet comes in at £12.95 a head (£6.95 at lunchtime) with a pint of Cobra at just £2.80.
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Bombay Duck, 164-168 Hessle Road, Hull, HU3 3BE. Tel: 01482 210 800. E-mail: bombayduckhull@hotmail.co.uk. Open: daily noon–4pm and 5pm–11pm.
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Gone fishin’
Zeen, NW1 London
A group of curry lovers which meets once a month is in search of a regular venue. They’ve got the meeting each other every month down to a tee, found a pub they like to start off the evening with and now just need the curry house they like. It’s safe to say it won’t be Zeen.
Order a prawn dish if you like fishing. As one of the group said, ‘I went in for a prawn and was delighted to fish one out!’. Not that Zeen holds back that much on the quantity (to be fair there were a decent amount of prawns in the Prawn Karwari, £8) but the deep bowls of ‘curry’ are extremely watery.
And so it was with all the other dishes. One of the great joys of eating in a curry house – as anyone who has tried to replicate the dishes at home – is their ability to create thick, rich sauces. Without it the dishes are more like soup. And so it is with Zeen. The Chicken Madras (£7) was the same, so were the, er, other soups.
It has to be noted that the contemporary decor does make this a very stylish place to fish through your spicy soup though.
Zeen, 130 Drummond Street, London, NW1 2PA. Tel: 020 7387 0606. Open: Mon–Fri: noon–3pm and 5:30pm–11:30pm, Sat: noon–3pm and 6pm–11:30pm.
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Mushroom pilau
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1tbs groundnut oil
• 1tsp cumin seeds.
• 1 large clove garlic crushed
• 1/2 inch ginger grated
• 1 medium onion chopped into small pieces
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 10/15 closed cap mushrooms
• 1/4tsp tumeric
• 1/4tsp salt
• 3 cups water
1. Wash the basmati rice until water comes out clean. Soak rice in cold water for half an hour.
2. Warm the oil in a pan over medium heat.
3. Add the cumin seeds and wait for them to sizzle then throw in the garlic and ginger. Let it cook for 1 min.
4. Add cinnamon stick.
5. Add onions and cook until they start to go brown at edges
6. Add rice and make sure it is fully coated with onion/oil mix.
7. Add salt and tumeric and stir well.
8. Add mushrooms and cook for about 2 minutes continually stirring so rice does not stick to the pan.
9. Add the water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until water is absorbed.
10. Check the rice is fully cooked, if not then add a bit more water and simmer.
Courtesy of Plummy Mummy
2-4-1 curries
McCoy’s are re-running their 2-4-1 curry offer. Buy a packet of the promo crisps (red top) and it could save you on your next trip to the curry house (eat in or collection but no delivery). Check out their website for details.
www.mccoys.co.uk
The Royal Curry Club 