And so we return…

On By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)Leave a comment

Kerala Zone, Greenwich

Blame the World Cup. Blame the Germans for whooping us. Blame the sun. I don’t know, blame anything. The GCC has been remiss and not met for a long time. Luckily we have forgotten the football (maybe) and the rain has returned to London so we had returned to the delights of curry.

“Word has it that the Kerala Zone has reopened,” says GCC member number one.

“We must check it out,” says GCC number two.

There follows lots of comments that blogs which know nothing about publishing law would write up. Crawly type things. Reasons it shut in the first place. All alleged.

“That’s just rumours,” says the fair-minded GCC member.

And he won the day. The World Cup was over. The GCC was back in action. A fine turnout; the usual crowd were ready for spice action.

So the Kerala Zone was back. Optimism abounded. The new (young) guys running the place are keen and friendly. We’d caught the place in newbie territory, with a takeaway style menu and decor to match. Bit unfair, it was clearly in the up-and-running mode, but it had a first-day-at-school air about the place.

Starters seemed universally deep fried and garnished with slices of carrot for some reason (Cashew Nut Pakoda £3.25). Star of the show of the mains was a Cochin Squid Curry (never had that before, £8.25) which was seriously tasty and soft. Your name wasn’t Paul was it Herr Squid?

• Kerala Zone, 119 Trafalgar Road, Greenwich, SE10 9TX. Tel: 020 8293 9158. Open: daily noon-3pm and 6pm-11pm.

Kerala Zone snapshot

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As it says

On By Daniel FordIn 4. TakeawaysLeave a comment

Curry Tandoor, Beckenham
(Takeaway)

Straight, simple and to the point. If you’re looking for a no-nonsense takeaway with decent prices and with a pub nearby for a pint if you are collecting, Curry Tandoor hits the spice spot.

There’s nothing elaborate about the place but the food comes promptly and at great prices (vegetable main dishes from £3.35, chicken classics £4.55 and even specials like Honey lamb at £5.65).

I just wish they’d told me about the 15% discount for collection orders over £15. With my bill hovering below that it would have actually been cheaper to order another (cheapish dish), pass the £15 mark and get the discount!

Parking: street parking on the Bromley Road or roads off it.

Delivery: free within three mile radius for minimum orders of £12. A charge of £2.50 if it’s under £12.

Specials: 15% discount for orders that are collected.

Beer while you’re waiting: the Oakhill is nearby and has a pleasant enough outside area, albeit by the road.

Curry Tandoor, 76 Bromley Road, Beckenham, Kent, BR3 5NP. Tel: 020 8658 4081. Open: Tues–Sun 5.30pm–11.30pm (midnight on Sat and Sun).

Curry Tandoor snapshot

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Meeting (April 2010)

On By Daniel FordIn Uncategorized5 Comments

And so after much hand-wringing and talk of wild adventures to venues across the river (‘head East young man!’) the GCC has settled for the safety of home  (‘There’s no place like home, eh Dorothy?) And so the Taste of India (43 Greenwich Church St, Greenwich, SE10 9BL) gets the nod on Wednesday 21st April.

Giant step for currykind

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

In a small step for bloggers but a giant step for GCC we’ve just notched up our 1,000 visitor. Yes, yes, I know that’s not going to send shockwaves through big blog city, but as this only started as a group of friends eating curry and writing about it a few months ago, not too bad… Like one of those supermarket’s that rewards their 1,000,000 customer with free groceries for a year, I’d offer our 1,000th visitor an Onion Bhaji if only I knew who it was. Ah never, mind, I’ll just order it myself next time.

At last, a green curry

On By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)2 Comments

Taste of India, Greenwich

I really like the tourists in Greenwich. I like the way they wander about with a guidebook, I like the thought that a smelly red telephone box appears to be the greatest thing they have set their eyes on, I like their nice matching jackets (couples) and I like their sensible walking shoes. But best of all I like that they go through the ritual of looking at the menus in pubs. Why bother? We all know they are only going to order fish and chips anyway.

The trouble is they’ve all pushed up the prices of a quick-and-easy pub lunch for the rest of us. Fish and chips? That’ll be a tenner, sir. Bangers and mash. Nearly the same.

Solution? Head to the Taste of India, where the lunchtime buffet is just £5.95. Treat it like a tasting menu: Chicken Pakora, Chicken Tikka, Chicken Jalfrezi, Lamb Karahi, Niramish (mixed vegetables), Tarka Dall (lentils), naan bread, the list goes on and on because the buffet changes every day.

There are also dishes that don’t appear on the regular menu. Which is how I finally found my green curry. If it’s not fresh vegetables then green is not a colour we normally associate with tasty food (think of our associations with algae etc) but the Taste of India’s Green Tandoori Chicken breaks the mould (prejudice).

The lunchtime menu is made for working through, but I found it impossible not to return for more of this green dish and forgo even a bit of a taste of the other dishes. It’s cooked in the tandoor, as would tikka, but it’s been marinated in mint instead of the spices that gives it the red colour. Who needs overpriced fish and chips anyway?

• Taste of India, 43 Greenwich Church St, Greenwich, SE10 9BL. Tel: 020 8858 2668/1380. Open: noon-2.15pm for lunch buffet

Taste of India snapshot

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(Still) in search of a green curry

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)Leave a comment

Spicy Bite, Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is expensive. Curry is painfully expensive. So Spicy Bite, tucked away downstairs in the Moor Mall is the place to head when you want curry without a hole in your pocket. For just €6.50 (not short of the price of starter in a restaurant) you get a buffet of (at my count) eight non-veg dishes, six veg dishes, six sambals, three types of rice dishes, nan, plus chips and prawn crackers for some reason. Tuck in.

You can see the skewers of meat being dropped into the tandoor oven just behind the counter so my tastebuds were raging for tandoori only to discover the super-red meat was disappointingly sweet. But, hey, after plates and plates of great food, hey, who’s complaining? Vegetable kofta (also sweet) topped the dishes on offer along with the Mixed Vegetable Curry.

Spicy Bite is next to similar places offering good value – the Taste of Africa, plus a Mauritian place and another similar Asian buffet. The decor is basic canteen-like but there is a great buzz in the place thanks to the mostly immigrant crowd who know good food and value when they find it, plus you get to see Bollywood movies as you eat or the clothes shops in the mall should you get bored with the food (unlikely). It gives window shopping a new meaning.

• Spicy Bite, Moor Mall, Moor St, Downstairs Lidl City Centre, Dublin 1, Ireland. Tel: 086 197 1423 (in Ireland). Open: daily 10am–8pm.

Spicy Bite snapshot

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In search of a green curry

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)Leave a comment

Monsoon, Dublin, Ireland

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After copious amounts of Guinness on St Patrick’s Day (yes, I did see the parade – it was on the TV), it seemed only fitting to wrap up the early part of the day with a curry.

There might have been something fittingly green on the menu but one look at the prices (Prawn Chilli Masala €18.95, Kadhai Gosht €16.95) had us quickly flicking to the Early Bird Special (starter, main, rice or nan and bottle of beer for €20, served 5.30pm-7.30pm). It’s a reduced menu, but amid talk of Cheltenham Racing (‘You must have had a bit on that one to be sure’ etc) from neighbouring tables it was still enough for us to share the most perfectly cooked Chicken Tikka and Fish Tikka, plus a traditional Rogan Josh (oven-cooked with whole cumin, cassia and cloves), a creamy Goan prawn curry and a Chicken Makhani.

Tim’s big on Chicken Makhani (although insists calling every incarnation of it he ever eats Chicken Balti Tikka Masala) but reckons the Rogan Josh was ‘just like a stew your mum would cook up’.

Mmm, I reckon he’s missing the great taste of those whole spices and that deep, rich sauce. I must admit I love the modern version of the Rogan dish (Lamb or Chicken) that uses lots of tomatoes but lately I’ve been searching out the traditional Mughal version, which is getting more common as people increasing seek out ‘authentic’ Indian dishes instead of the Anglo-Indian inventions most of us grew up with.

I think the ‘authentic’ argument is a silly one anyway (isn’t there a place for all variations of this great food?) but I’ve admiration for an authentic Rogan Josh mainly because I tried to cook it once and failed badly. A stew indeed Mr Chicken Balti Tikka Masala.

• Monsoon, 306-8 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin, 06, Ireland. Tel: +353 1 491-1666. E-mail: info@monsoon.ie. Open: Mon-Thur 5pm-11.30pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-midnight, Sun 12.30pm-4pm (buffet), and 5pm-11pm.

Monsoon snapshot

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Better than Natwest

On By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)4 Comments

March 2010

Mountain View, Blackheath

This is a great building for an Indian (Nepalese really, as the comment points out below) restaurant. Spacious, with high ceilings, and a classy bar area, it certainly makes a change from the tight, flock-wallpapered dens that most curry houses favour. The former Natwest Bank building, right across from Blackheath station, has a certain French feeling about it even, which is fitting as it was chosen by Mr Melange, our Parisian curry fan.

Warmed up by beers in the Railway opposite and a tongue tickler taste of the Dragon Slayer (see previous post), orders followed thick and fast after the complimentary sherry (sherry, in an Indian? That’s a first).

Scallops (£5.95), another Indian first, were spicy and great, Momos (£3.95) the minced-meat balls wrapped in soft pastry discovered in the Gurkha’s Inn on a previous meeting were back in action, along with Stuffed Pepper (£4.95). Thankfully, some sanity was restored to the starters by an order of Onion Bhaji (£2.95).

Ian, as usual, ordered something a bit different (Rapti Salmon Tikka, £7.95) and had to watch as everyone had a taste and his plate disappeared before his eyes. Fish is much underrated and ordered in Indians, I reckon, and the scallops and this salmon proved it shouldn’t be. Go on, next time try something other than chicken or lamb.

There was plenty of that on offer, notably Garlic Chilli Chicken (£6.95) ordered with extra chillies on the side no less, the good old Lamb Rogan (£6.95), and Lamb Jalfrazi (£7.95). And this being curry night, spinach had to appear on the table (cue, a plug for our first recipe, see previous entry…). It came in the form of Sag Aloo (£3.95) although Mr Parisian declared the potatoes got in the way. Addicted to spinach, now I’ve heard of everything.

• Mountain View, 1-3 Lee Road, Blackheath, SE3 9RQ. Tel: 020 8318-9912.

Mountain View snapshot

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Mountain View on Urbanspoon

‘I can’t feel my tongue’

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

This little beauty, called Chilli Pepper Pete’s Dragon Slayer (chillipepperpete.com) is courtesy of Adam in Belushis (belushis.com) who passed this onto GCC after picking it up at the Brighton’s Fiery Foods Chilli Festival, which forms part of the Spring Harvest Festival (brightonspringharvest.com) from 11-21 March. It’s said to be the hottest thing they had there and wasn’t even put out in case the kiddies dipped their little fingers into it. GCC middle-aged kiddies are less concerned and (most) had a little dip before the most recent meeting. ‘Bloody hot’, ‘I can’t feel my tongue’ etc were comments, although to be fair the tingling does wear off after 15 minutes. The chef in the Mountain View restaurant in Blackheath declared this was something that’s used in Chinese coooking (like black bean sauce) not Indian. Although that didn’t stop us having a few more tastes at the table. Ingredients: blueberry, vinegar, Bith Jolokia, prunes, crystalized ginger, cherries, green tabasco, black treacle, 12mshu chilli extract, 15 MSU chilli crystal. Now you know.

Sag paneer

On By Daniel FordIn RecipesLeave a comment

Every time I go to an Indian restaurant, I order this dish as I enjoy it.  The best version in London that I have had is the one from the Punjab in Neal Street.  The vagar (sauce it is cooked in) is similar to many of my shaks but hey, it works so why not stick with it!

It is possible to make paneer at home which has a nicer consistency in my view than the shop bought ones. However, I have had some luck with versions bought in Sainsbury and Tesco. It is normally found in the cheese section. Indian groceries will often sell paneer in their chiller sections too.

If you have time, dry roast the cinnamon, cloves and cardamon in a flat pan. Dry roasting means you don’t put in any oil you just add the stuff and let it cook. Cook until you see vapour coming off the ingredients then take off heat. This helps release the flavours.

A general note about the spices – the quantities are not set in stone. You should amend them to fit your taste. The only thing I would watch is the salt as spinach tends to become quite salty. But if you are not a fan of a particular ingredient then leave it out!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbs groundnut oil
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 large dried bayleaf
  • 1 large white onion – diced very finely
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 inch ginger grated
  • 1 – 2 chillies chopped finely
  • 2 sticks cinnamon (about 5 cm long each)
  • 5 cloves
  • 5 green cardamon
  • 1tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1tsp coriander cumin powder (dhana jeeru)
  • 1tsp salt
  • 2 tomatoes chopped into very small dice. Get very red tomatoes that are fresh.
  • 5 curry leaves
  • 1 pack paneer – open and chop into 2 cm cubes
  • 1 pack baby spinach – wash out all grit
  • Squeeze of lemon juice1

 

1. Heat oil in a pan and add bayleaf. Heat should be set to medium – you don’t want to burn anything!

2. Add cumin seeds and wait for them to start to sizzle.

3. Add the onion and let them cook until they start to caramelise/brown.

4. Add garlic, ginger and chillis and allow to cook for a few seconds.

5. Add cinammon, cloves and cardamon – again let cook for a few seconds. Keep stirring all these ingredients as you add spices.

6. When spices have had time to cook out (a few minutes), add the tomatoes and curry leaves. Up to this stage, you are making what is known as vagar. It’s the sauce you will put your main ingredients into. The intention is to let the tomatoes reduce.

7. Add the paneer and ensure it is well coated with the vagar.

8. Add the spinach and let it wilt down.

9. Add a little water and turn down the heat to a simmer. Let this cook for about 20 minutes. The paneer should be soft and have absorbed much of the vagar. The spinach should be completely wilted

10. Squeeze in the lemon juice, stir, cook for another 2 minutes, then turn off to heat

 

I personally think this should be cooked at least 1 hour before it is needed to allow the ingredients to combine. When you are ready to eat it, then you can heat it through gently then garnish with coriander and serve with rice.

Courtesy of Chili Paper Chains