Tag: Curry

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

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New Jomuna on Urbanspoon

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)

Smile, you’re in Chutney

On By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)1 Comment

Chutney, Greenwich

You’ll have to go a long way to find a friendlier Indian restaurant than Chutney. The small, unassuming place (my friend says it always looks shut) is along Greenwich’s Little India strip, one of a few curry places (mostly takeaways) in just a few hundred metres of each other. But every time I’ve visited the greeting is warm and the chit chat over the choice of dishes with the waiter interesting. But this time Chutney surpassed itself by giving us a lift home because ‘the driver is available’. Now that really is service.

Chutney also serves exceptionally good food and has built a reputation for retaining customers who have moved out of the area. The chutney tray, as you’d expect from a restaurant with this name, offers something different: a dry cocunut chutney, made red with colouring and red wine. Tasty indeed, especially with a bit of sweet mango pickle.

Of the main dishes the new Napali Chicken (£6.45) a hottish dish, cooked with onions and green peppers, is to be recommended. But the menu offers so many interesting options: Boal Fish Massala (£6.45) a freshwater fish from Bangladesh, Pistachio Chicken (£5.95) for nut lovers, a Meat Thali (£10.95) with tasters of Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Korma, Lamb Bhuna, Tandoori Chicken, Sheek Kebab, rice and nan, and a good range of Chutney’s very own Tapeli set menus such as Tapeli Bengal or Tapeli Joypuri (both £10.95).

It’s not difficult to see that value features highly here, so it is no surprise that Chutney was named runner-up in the category of Best Value in the Greenwich Curry Club Awards. Should you need further persuading, old-school favourites such as Madras and Bhuna come in at £3.95 for vegetable and £4.45 for chicken, which is better than some of the takeaway neighbours.

Chutney, 11 Blackheath Road, London, SE10 8PE. Tel: 020 8692 1924 or 07947 120 989. Open: Sun–Thur 5.30pm–11.30pm, Fri–Sat 5.30pm–midnight.

Chutney snapshot

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Chutneys on Urbanspoon

IPA saves India

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

English beer never used to travel well, especially on the long journey to India in the 17th century. The men of the East India Company were getting restless. And very drunk on arrack, the local moonshine. Then along came George Hodgson, who started exporting specially created Indian Pale Ale (IPA) from his Bow Brewery. The traders liked him because he gave them 18 months credit and unlike the dark Porter beer that was popular in England at the time, his IPA didn’t suffer from journey round the tip of Africa; in fact the rolling motion of the ships actually improved it. The men were no longer restless and could get on with making money and eating curry now they had a decent beer to wash it down.

Such is the entertaining tale of beer expert and author Peter Haydon, who is one of the presenters at the National Maritime Museum’s Curry and a Pint evenings (next one is 25 Nov, then 2 Dec at £25, Bookings).

Haydon is a consultant to the Meantime Brewery and visitors get to taste the local brewery’s IPA as they enjoy a biryani in the Mogul restaurant in Greenwich town centre at the end of the event.

The super knowledgable historian Rozina Visram starts the evenings by giving a run down on the nation’s favourite dish in the museum. You might be able to get curry powder down the Co-op these days but way back when, Visram explains, this was the preserve of chemists, who promoted its mixtures as cures for all sorts of ailments, each one claiming its own blend was the best. Which, of course, makes perfect sense to anyone who’s chewed on a clove to help a toothache or gargled turmeric to help with a cough.

The evenings are part of a series of events to celebrate the opening of the new Traders gallery at the museum.

Britain’s Biggest Curry Party in Greenwich

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

A superb special menu was set up by the Gurkha’s Inn as the Greenwich Curry Club and friends gathered to be part of Britain’s Biggest Curry Party to raise money for the James Whale Kidney Cancer Fund.

Ideal for grazers who like to try a bit of everything, the menu included a lot of Nepalese specialities. The Lamb Momos, tasty balls of mince wrapped in dough, are a favourite of diners at the Gurkha’s, but with succulent Grilled Salmon and Chicken Tikka, there was a feast in the starters alone.

Welcome surprises on the menu were the Achari Paneer Tikka and the Dal Makhani, both dishes that are often overlooked but incredibly tasty. The Dal Makhani has already been ordered in subsequent curry visits and looks set to be a new favourite. The Lemon Rice, with tiny zesty pieces of the fruit, is delicious, and the tang works particularly well with the spicier dishes such as Chicken Chilly Dry Fry.

Eyes up for the Mongoose beers
And eyes down for the food

Gurkha’s King Prawn, with prawns that were worthy of the name, Hariyo Lamb, Kukhura Bhutuwa, and supper soft spinach in the Saag Harabara completed the line-up along with garlic naan and rice.

Mongoose kindly supplied the beer for the evening, although there was still time to sample the Nepalese Khukuri beer, naturally.

The total cost for the food and beer was £20 a head, which included a contribution to the charity. This was topped up by a generous donation from the Gurkha’s Inn itself and some of the regulars at the nearby Plume of Feathers pub.

Any chance of another popadom? And below from left… Gurkha's Inn is named Restaurant of the year… Never get between a man and his curry… Happy curry fans

   

Gurkha's Inn on Urbanspoon

Just like that

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

Fancy yourself as a curry king? Got questions? Garlic first or whole spices? Tinned tomatoes or fresh chopped tomatoes? Ren’s Kitchen, in Edgware, Middlesex, could be what you are looking for. With lessons from chefs who could cook up a spice storm in their sleep you can get one-on-one or group sessions to learn exactly how to get your curry dishes just right.

In the full day session you’ll get some practical info on spices (you know what they taste like raw?), plus a chance to cook a meat dish, a fish dish, a veg dish, rice, a starter, a dessert, rice and bread (Ren’s the Chappati Queen according to Sheila, my super knowledgable chef who is originally from Mumbai). Best of all you’ll be told along the way in each dish you are cooking, just how you can adapt it to create other dishes. So you might be learning Chicken Methi but you’ll also learn how to make a Madras, a Vindaloo or a Chicken Rogan at the same time.

Needless to say, you get to take all your food home as well, so it’s curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner for  a few days. Ok, if you insist…

 

Nice space shame about the spice

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

Spice of India, London SE1

You can’t fault the Spice of India’s location, just a short walk from Waterloo Station. So on a Saturday night on the way home it (sort of) hits the spot. Only sort of, though, sadly; the depth of spices in the dishes seems lacking. Don’t get me wrong it was okay. But I don’t want okay, I want ‘bloody hell that was tasty’.

It’s lively that’s for sure, thanks to the chirpiness of the passing trade that’s had a good night, out but the Tandoori Butter Chicken (£8.95) wasn’t quite rich and indulgent enough, which is a shame as it’s an occasional treat dish away from the usual ‘must try something new’ feeling. I don’t mind being disappointed with an untried dish but surely a classic should hit the spot everytime?

The Lamb Madras (£6.95) was decent enough as was the cauliflower and spinach side dish, and thumbs up to the chef for making it even though it wasn’t on the menu. But best of all was the mixed pickle. Ideal for popadoms obviously, but great to spice up (slightly) disappointing dishes too.

66 The Cut, South Bank London, SE1 8LL . Tel: 020 7928 1286/5280. Open: daily noon–2.30pm and 5.30pm–11.30pm.

Spice of India snapshot

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Spice of India on Urbanspoon

Curry quiz

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

See how you can do without Google. Answers at top of page where it says Curry quiz!

1. The Hindoostane Coffee House is widely acknowledged as Britain’s first curry house. In what year was it opened? (3pts for exact, 1 pt for within 5 years).

2. The Veeraswamy is Britain’ oldest curry house that is still open. In which famous Monopoly Street is it? (1pt)

3. Sag aloo includes which two main ingredients? (1pt if you get both)

4. Traditionally cooked with pork, what is Goa’s most famous dish? (1pt)

5. There are more than 13,000 curry houses in Britain? True or false? (1pt)

6. A Mongoose is particularly famous for fighting which snake? (1pt)

7. According to the British Curry Club what is the nation’s favorite curry? (1pt)

8. It was National Curry Week last week and they held a Poppadom Tower competition. How many poppadoms were piled high to create the record. (3pts for within 10, 1 pt for within 50).

9. The hottest curry in Britain is said to be the Rupali. In which city will you find it? (2pts)

10. Indian restaurants in Britain serve more than 2 million people every week. True or false? (1pt)