Tag: Hot food

Recipe… Prawn Salad with Chilli Jam

On By Daniel FordIn RecipesLeave a comment

chill jam

Prawn Salad with Chilli Jam
Serves 2

What you need
• 1 medium-sized cucumber, skinned and chopped into cubes
• 1 green pepper chopped into cubes
• 1 onion chopped
• 6 small plum tomatoes halved
• 1/2 tsp rock salt
• 1/4 lemon
• 3 tbls vegetable oil
• 15 medium-sized prawns
• pinch of ground turmeric
• pinch of chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• small bunch fresh coriander roughly chopped

How to make it
1. Mix all salad ingredients with salt then squeeze lemon over the top. Set aside.
2. Heat 2 tbls of vegetable oil to medium heat. Add turmeric and chilli powder for 30 seconds, making sure it is fully absorbed into the oil.
3. Add prawns and fry until they turn pink (about 4 minutes). Remove prawns with a slotted spoon and add to the top of the salad.
4. Add the other tbls of vegetable oil and bring to a high heat (almost smoking).
5. Cook the seeds and garlic until the seeds pop (this will only take a few seconds).
6. Pour the oil mixture over the prawns. You can keep back the seeds if you prefer as it’s the taste from the oil you want. Top with coriander leaves.
7. Serve with a chilli jam as a dipping sauce.

I used Bhut Jaloka Chilli Jam from the Chilli Jam Factory.

• A full range of chilli jams from the Chilli Jam Factory are available from Lockie’s Shellfish.

Where buggies fear to go

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

Bombay, Benidorm, Spain

Cheesy weekends away should always include a cheeky curry. Bombay is not too far from the hotel where the Benidorm TV show is filmed. It’s not quite cheesy enough to appear in that but it’s certainly an eclectic place with a glass food counter circling round the top end of the restaurant and a random collection of photos, fake vine leaves and various other nick-nacks to keep you amused while you wait for your food.

It’s not suitable for about 70 per cent of Benidorm visitors as it’s a located on a steepish hill. I’m not sure many of the buggies zipping the old people around the town would have enough oomph to get up there but it would be funny watching them try.

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Fish pakoras, made with haddock
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Vegetable Jalfrazi (l) and Chicken Chillie Garlic

The Fish Pakoras (€3.60) were tasty and made a nice change while the Vegetable Jalfrazi and Chicken Chillie Garlic (both €7) were nice enough, although the sauces were a bit too similar for my liking. The waiters were nice enough but they were a bit naughty in not telling us we could have had a starter, chicken curry dish and rice/chips/nan for €7.95, a deal where we could have got more food and paid less.

Bombay, C/. Londres, 4. Rincon de Loix, Benidorm, Spain. Tel: +34 966 446 218. Open: daily 2pm–4am.

Scores on the tandoors

Food 6⃣

Decor 3⃣

Value  6⃣

Atmosphere (Saturday night) 5⃣

Service and friendliness  6⃣


The great lime pickle swindle

On By Daniel FordIn 3. Reviews (International)2 Comments

Salina’s Balti House, Fuengirola, Spain

When it comes to curries and curry restaurants I’m a pretty tolerant diner. So when I visited Salina’s Balti House, newly opened in Fuengirola and self-proclaimed specialists in Birmingham Baltis I could forgive the fact that the tout attracting us in showed  an extensive list of dishes that fell under the €7.95 Mon to Thur special (any balti with rice or nan) only for the waiter to trim it down to a handful of dishes once we’d sat down. I could forgive that the guy who does the draught beer must have forgotten to put the gas on it was that flat. I could even forgive that the bottled beer replacements were hotter than the curry so we had to drink them with ice in the glasses.

Because the food was rather good and there were decent sized portions.

What I can’t accept is being dismissed with the flick of a hand by a member of staff and told to “go away” when I raised a perfectly acceptable query about being whacked with €2.80 on the bill for a spoonful of lime pickle. That, for the mathematicians out there is a staggering 35 per cent of the cost of the meal itself. Imagine if a hamburger seller or hot dog seller did the same when your squirted ketchup on your food?

I’ve long been baffled by Indian restaurants charging for what is no more than a condiment. Regular readers of this blog will know I refer to it as the Lime Pickle tax. To be charged €2.80 is an insult. To be dismissed rudely by a member of staff for daring to query it is a disgrace.

Salina’s Balti House, C/ Moncallo, 37, Fuengirola, Spain. Tel: +34 602 014 893. Open: daily noon–3.30pm, 6pm–late.

Scores on the tandoors

Food 7⃣

Decor 5⃣

Value (if you get the special and don’t order lime pickle obviously) 7⃣

Atmosphere (Wednesday night) 6⃣

Service and friendliness 1⃣


There be large chickens

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

Chicken Tikka Palace, Durban, South Africa

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I’m not sure what they feed the chickens in South Africa but they certainly enjoy it because they are huge! My snack order (the Pakistani staff had the cricket on and I fancied watching it with a bit of tandoori) was a quarter Chicken Tikka (R30) but when it arrived I had a double take at the size. Snack indeed. I tucked into the meat, which comes with chips and salad and added a Butter Nan (R4) and a Coke (Chicken Tikka Palace is Muslim run so no alcohol is served).

The meat was deeply marinated, the edges were nicely seared black as they should be, and extra sauce coated the meat. The chips and bread smothered in butter just added to the mouth-watering experience.

This is not the fanciest of places (let’s just say it’s not first date material) and late at night the beachfront is not the most salubrious area but for quality, value food and a friendly welcome, you’ll have to search far and wide.

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* £1 = approx R15 at the time of visit.

Chicken Tikka Palace, Shop No 4, Blemont Arcade, 5 Weat Street, Durban, South Africa. Tel: +27 (0) 31 337 9460.

Scores on the tandoors

Food 8⃣

Decor 4⃣

Value 9⃣

Atmosphere (Saturday night) 4⃣

Service and friendliness 8⃣


African Chicken Feet Curry

On By Daniel FordIn Recipes3 Comments

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Serves 3

What you need
• 1 litre water
• 1kg chicken feet
• 1/2 cup oil
• tsp salt
• tsp mixed spice
• 2 onions finely chopped
• 1 red pepper finely chopped
• tsp flour (optional)

How you cook it
1. Boil chicken feet for one hour.
2. Fry all other ingredients except flout in oil until the onions are soft (not brown).
3. Pour in chicken and sauce to pan and cook on a low heat (you can add flour to thicken if needed).
4. Serve with pap, samp, steamed dumplings or spinach.

Recipe courtesy Florence Chareka, chef at TSA restaurant in Randburg, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

How to pair curry with whisky

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

My friend suggests a whisky bar he knows just a short walk from the station. I’ve just arrived in Aberdeen and the wind blowing off the North Sea feels capable of biting even into the solid Granite that built the city. A couple of warmers later and we’re heading off for a curry, a smart new place he’s heard about that’s just up Market Street.

Whisky followed by fish seems appropriate in Scotland, but strangely we end up with a fish that’s been imported from Bangladesh – a whole tilapia, spiced. It’s not bad but a bit dry. As we are. We down our Cobras and order a whisky. The choice is from the region of Speyside, the small but prolific whisky producing area that is famous for its mostly gentle style of the drink. My friend wants gentle so as not to over-power the fish but goes for something slightly oily to help the dryness. It’s got a taste of pepper too. Three cheers for my clever curry-whisky friend and we’re soon happily off back to the whisky bar to discuss the merits of importing a fish from the freshwaters of Asia to the north of Scotland.

Whisky and curry go together remarkably well. The spicy notes – cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, pepper, cloves among others – are central to the aroma and taste of many whiskies while a host of the other tastes you associate with your favourite curry can be found too. In whisky you’ll also find creamy smoothness (Korma dishes), smokiness (Tandoori), sweetness (Dhansak), vanilla (Kulfi), nuttiness (Pasanda), zestiness (Achari) aniseed (Goan fish dishes), as well as saltiness, fruitiness and slight oiliness.

There are two approaches to pairing food and drink. One is to complement the dish by choosing a drink with the same or similar tastes and aromas; the other is challenge the dish by adding new tastes to the equation.

Master of Malt John Lamond is firmly on the side of the former. “The whisky you choose has to complement the food. I’d say always do this, but particularly with Indian dishes which are so complex. They’ve been carefully put together to create a range of different tastes and the last thing you want is to choose a whisky that upsets that and blows the food’s taste out of the water.”

But Lamond also warns it works both ways due to the power of some curries. “The art, or magic, is in the marriage of the flavours of the whisky with the flavours of the food so that each complements the other, rather than one swamping the flavours of the other. The more highly flavoured, such as Vindaloo blast the taste buds and make tasting almost anything alongside them almost impossible,” he advises.

“Creamy masalas would go with youngish (up to 15-year-old) Speysides – Glenfarclas, Aberlour, Mortlach, Glenfiddich for instance. Jalfrezis would work with Ardbeg, Black Bottle, Big Peat or Caol Ila, even Springbank or Johnnie Walker Red or Black. Some would also fit well with tandoor cooked dishes, but they would have to be quite heavily flavoured and a lot of the flavour in curries is down to the contents of the dish rather than the way it has been cooked, such as perhaps a Gosht.”

Pairing whisky and curry works, but ultimately it’s about experimenting and having fun.

There’s a lot of snobbery associated with whisky (as with wine) but just as you don’t choose your favourite beer with an elaborate performance of swirling, staring and sniffing nor do you have to do so whisky either. See the boxes for some ideas of Indian dishes and whiskies but don’t be afraid to experiment and see what works for you. A few select whiskies and a selection of dishes from your favourite takeaway can make for a great night at home with friends.

As Lamond mentions, curry has plenty of complex flavours so give your taste buds a chance! I’d advise trying the whisky and the dish you want to pair it with before loading extras like pickle on to your plate. Keep the rice and bread dishes as plain as possible (plain or pillau rice and plain nan or chapatti); you’ve got enough taste stuff going on without introducing lemon rice and garlic nan into the equation as well.

Ultimately, have fun discovering which whiskies work with which curries, but always tread carefully with powerful tastes, as Tom Morton, BBC broadcaster and author of the whisky books Spirit of Adventure and Journey’s Blend warns.

“Matching curries with whisky is really about the post-prandial hitching of a dram to the aroma left behind by a curry. A Glenfarclas 105 after a nice wee korma can cut through the cream and coconut. But you have to be careful. A cask-strength Talisker on the back of a ferocious Jalfrezi may leave your throat or oesophagus in tatters.”

Classic dishes and popular whiskies 

• Butter chicken, with its creamy, tomato base works well with the vanilla smoothness of America’s favourite, Jack Daniel’s. No Coke!

• The strong and powerful smokiness of popular blend Johnnie Walker Black is needed to compete with the extra hot spiciness of Lamb madras.

• Famous Grouse combines spiciness with sweetness (from its fruit tastes) something that fans of a Prawn Dhansak will recognise and enjoy.

• Biryanis are dry but highly aromatic and need a light and sweet whisky that will not fight the subtle aromas of whole spices used in the dish. Go for a Bell’s.

• Kormas or Pasandas, with their creamy and nutty tastes both work well with the easy, smoothness of Ireland’s triple-distilled Jameson. Any wonder it’s a favourite for Irish coffees?

Advanced tasting menu

Starter: Onion bhaji and Glenkinchie 10 Year Old. A classic, simple starter of sliced onion and gram flour that deserves a gentle accompaniment and this Edinburgh whisky is light but has a touch of spice and ginger.

Lamb: Lamb tikka and Caol Ila (pronounced Cal-le-la). The tandoor-cooked lamb needs something as strong and smoky as the single malt Caol Ila (it’s the lead whisky in Johnnie Walker Black) with its hint of pepper and spice.

Chicken: Achari chicken and Tullamore Dew. This Irish blend offers spicy and lemon flavours, ideal if you like your chicken cooked in tangy pickles.

Vegetable: Motor paneer with Wild Turkey. The smoothness of the cheese needs a smooth whisky and this famous Kentucky Bourbon provides that, but also adds hints of spices including cinnamon.

Fish: Goan prawn curry and Bowmore 12 Year Old. The great texture of this shellfish is popular but their taste of origin is often lost in the cooking process. Go for a whisky that was matured by the sea. Islay whiskies are well known for their salty, seaweedy flavours.

Dessert: Kulfi and Johnnie Walker Gold Label. Have a bit of fun with this creamy, soft dessert. Take a mouthful and let it freeze for a few seconds then enjoy a nice amount of this creamy, honeyed blend.

• This article first appeared in Chaat! (British Curry Club magazine)

Fast but certainly fresh

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

Manjal, London, E14

Most food reviews have an angle, something to ‘hang’ the piece on. It’s something that stands out, good or bad, a little something to make the piece. Manjal offered so many angles I don’t know where to start, so I’ll list them all… It’s a new Indian restaurant (and a good one); the menu is different and exciting (although bizarrely the two I saw were not identical); the decor is contemporary and bright (and some of the tables enjoy views across the water of Millwall Docks and the twinkling lights of canary Wharf); the service is friendly (although a bit scatty); and the food is tasty and fresh (although it was delivered a bit too fast for my liking).

So let’s dive straight into the last point. There’s an ideal time for food to be served. Somewhat unfairly on restaurants this varies from person to person but the basic rules generally apply: there should be a ‘suitable’ time from taking the order to delivering the starters so diners can enjoy a drink and a chat, then there should be a ‘suitable’ time from clearing the starters to bringing the mains so diners can have another drink, but also so they feel the food is cooked freshly and not pre-prepared (let’s ignore the fact that few places can cook every order from scratch without some sort of prep, but that’s besides the point for diners).

In this country restaurants can safely err on the side of quicker service rather than slower because we don’t linger around a dinner table like, say, many Southern Europeans. But then they don’t like curry as much as us so what do they know anyway.

But no-one likes to get food delivered so quickly he feels like he has suddenly become part of a restaurant race. So when the starters arrive before the ordered popadoms have even reached the table and the mains appear before the beer has barely washed down the last mouthful of starter, then most of us will start dreaming of those lazy Southern European dinners.

But the food was undoubtedly fresh. The Mili Juli Subzi (£4.95) has perfectly cooked vegetables that really did remind me of those picked from my grandfather’s garden. And, joy, upon joy, the meat in the Chicken Karahi (£7.95) was running with tasty juices. Not a dry lump in the house. The starters – just two of a very interesting lineup – were also excellent. Kanaval Pirattal (£4.95) is squid, South Indian style, and the thick, dark sauce will please even the most ardent chilli head. Hot indeed. Even the Broccoli Varuval (£3.95), simple enough, but also very fresh, had a kick.

pic2  pic3   •Kanaval Pirattal (spicy squid)                 •Broccoli Varuval

Manjal, 3 Turnberry Quay, Pepper Street, London, E14 9RD. Tel: 020 7538 1140. E-mail: info@manjalrestaurant.com. Open: daily, noon–11pm.

Scores on the tandoors

Food 7⃣

Decor 8⃣

Atmosphere (Thursday night) 8⃣

Service and friendliness 7⃣

Value 8⃣

Manjal on Urbanspoon

Food lessons from Goa

On By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

1. If you have fish curry go for fresh not frozen. Getting fresh fish in your curry at home is not easy, of course, especially in restaurants. For cost and convenience most fish we get while out will be frozen (there is a bizarre fad to import tilapia, a Bangladeshi freshwater fish!) so if you find a restaurant that uses fresh, locally caught produce then treasure it. The difference is huge. Or you can always visit the fishmonger and cook your own.

2. Kolhapuri is a dish worth searching out. This dish, originating from a city called Kolhapur in Mahatashtra, is all over Goa, but I’ve never seen it on a menu here for some reason. As hot as a Vindaloo, as tasty as a Tikka Masala and as fresh as a Balti, this is the best dish I have ever tasted. Needless to say, I’d recommend you try it if you find it. Or better still ask the chef from your local curry house (especially if he’s from Maharashtra) to whip one up.

3. Vegetables don’t need to be consigned to side dishes. Most of us order our curry, rice and nan and, then, almost like an afterthought, we add some vegetables. Goa, like most of India, has a lot of veg-only restaurants, and they make you realise that veg doesn’t have to be an afterthought. Veg (make sure it’s fresh) is great for absorbing the spices and because the dishes are not as filling as meat equivalents you can eat more curry. What’s not to like?

4. Vindaloo is a Goan dish. Vindaloo is normally associated with six pints of lager and a metaphorical arm wrestle among friends to eat the hottest curry. It is, in fact, a dish that was born from Goa, when local spices were added to a vinegar-based dish brought to the area from the Portuguese. The most likely explanation for the name is that it is a cross between Vin (vinegar) and aloo (Hindi word for potato). The traditional meat used is pork, this being one of the few areas in the country where this meat is used extensively. While our restaurants still use a bit of vinegar the original recipe soaked the meat heavily in it.

5. A spicy omelette makes a great snack. Bored with your usual cheese omelettes? Masala omelettes can be whipped up in a couple of minutes. One egg, a chopped chilli, some chopped onion and a bit of salt and pepper. Cook, fold over in tissue and eat on the move.

6 Curry is not just for dinner. Parathas, stuffed with paneer, cauliflower and potato, plus pickles and raita, make a fine alternative to a fry up. I’m sure your local greasy spoon will oblige if you ask them nicely…

Great Wall of Indian

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

Ladywell Tandoori, Ladywell, SE13
Review by @Benb111 

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Mural by Gill Golding

Sometimes fate can be a right bitch. Other times she can be Emma Stone-mixed-with-Mila Kunis-and-a-twist-of-Helen-Mirren. So it proved when I had a flat tyre on a Saturday night in Ladywell, near Lewisham.

I cursed my bad luck. But then celebrated it. Ladywell is definitely a ‘go through’ place… you go through it to get somewhere else. Nobody stops in Ladywell apart from those who live there, 284 and 122 bus drivers, and deflated unfortunates. Dad’s Taxi Service was operating that fateful night – the last Saturday of February – and I had just dropped my son off at a friend’s house somewhere in SatNav Land.

Heading back to Greenwich, I felt a slight pulling to the right of the steering before hearing the grating sound of the right front metal wheel rim screaming out: “You have a flat tyre, i-d-i-o-t!”

The car rolled to a halt just metres from… the unremarkable-looking Ladywell Tandoori, next to the bus stop and opposite Ladywell Mayil Food & Wine. So guess where I headed?

Opening the door, I was stunned to see the most beautiful murals depicting Indian scenes on the two walls flanking the narrow restaurant, which was packed. I managed to get a table and was equally stunned by the sweet service from husband and wife team Habib and Khalida, who have owned the restaurant since 1982. The food, very reasonably priced, was delicious, by the way.

Subsequently, I have been back twice, most recently with SheWhoMustBeObeyed on a Saturday night in March. The welcome was equally warm, with Habib, who is from Bangladesh, wearing his trademark cap, and a tie neatly tucked into a pullover.

There are four booths on the right as you enter, and tables opposite, with a little bar by the kitchen entrance. For a starter we shared a Sonahara Samosa (£2.95, minced chicken and sweetcorn), which was lovely, with the pastry nice and flaky. We also has a couple of popadoms (50p each), which came with some chutneys.

By now, after this three visits, Habib knows I love my food spicy, so he recommended a Murg Achari (£6.95, and according to the menu, “marinated grilled fillet of chicken cooked in a spicy, tangy sauce of fresh garlic, ginger, green chilli and fresh coriander”).

This chicken immediately passed my Good Curry Test with flying colours, as it was soft and succulent. So many restaurants get it wrong with pieces of overcooked dry chicken just smothered in a sauce. Not the Ladywell Tandoori.

The wife was equally happy with her  Chicken Korma (£4.50) and we shared a  cauliflower bhaji (£2.50) with a couple of portions of boiled rice (£1.60 each). Unusually, the restaurant also serves game, with pheasant and venison on the menu.

The food was all very moreish, and clearly Habib and Khaleda know the secret of how to run a successful restaurant – it has been around for 31 years, don’t forget. I’m just disappointed I didn’t discover it earlier.

And that tyre? The AA came round and fixed it. And the murals? They are by a brilliant artist called Gill Golding, who has taught Fine Art at Middlesex University. Fine art, fine restaurant… don’t wait for a flat tyre to give it a go.

• Meal for two (inc non alcoholic drinks, and without service) £31.60.

Ladywell Tandoori, 81 Ladywell Rd, London SE13 7JA. Tel: 0208 690 1047. Open daily: 5pm-11.30pm

Scores on the Tandoors

Food  9⃣

Decor (murals) 🔟

Value 9⃣

Atmosphere 7⃣

Service and friendliness 🔟

Ladywell Tandoori on Urbanspoon

In need of more Cobra

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

Panas Gurkha, Lewisham, SE13
(review by KD)

It was a cold Friday evening when a friend and me went out to eat at Panas Gurkha on Lee High Road. Although it was seven o’clock there was no one else in the small restaurant, although it did fill up while we ate there. The décor in the restaurant has a slightly old-fashioned feel to it and there were quirky pieces of artwork (to say the least) dotted on the walls around the restaurant.

Dinner started by ordering Cobras and a couple of popadoms, the way all of my curries begin. We were going all out so decided to order starters as well as main courses. The two dishes that came first were the Momo (£4.25), lamb dumplings which the menu described as one of the most popular dishes in Nepal, and Sadeko Kukhura, shredded chicken on salad, a signature dish of Panas. Both dishes were pleasant enough, although the salad was very salty, which ruined the chicken a little bit when eaten together.

Interestingly, the main courses were pre-plated, which is not the norm but our waiter had no qualms when we asked for some extra plates so that we could share our dishes. We choose our mains from the chef’s specials and there wasn’t a curry sauce with either, which wasn’t a massive problem, but again unusual. The dishes were Choyola Chicken (£8.95) and Jhaneko Masu Lamb (£9.95), and although the ‘spice rating’ of both was two chillies (out of three) on the menu  but were extremely spicy, so much so that we had to order two more beers. I am a fan of spicy food but would hate to try a dish with three chilies at Panas.

The lamb had a sea-salt crunch to it, which meant, again, it was a bit too was a bit salty for our tastes. This came with a perfectly fine garlic naan and a new dish on the menu: green rice. However, this appeared to only be rice with some coriander in it, so it wasn’t exactly special. The one thing we found faultless at Panas was the service, as all the waiters were very observant throughout the evening. Well done to the front of house staff…

Overall, Panas’ food was perfectly edible, although a bit too salty, and not horribly expensive as our meal was under £60, including the drinks. I won’t be rushing there anytime soon, but if I do go back I would be inclined to try the more well-known curries.

Panas Gurkha, 318 Lee High Road, Lewisham, SE13 5PJ. Tel: 020 8852 9891 or 020 8297 8794.

Panas Gurkha snapshot

Food 5⃣

Decor 5⃣

Value 6⃣

Atmosphere (Friday night) 7⃣

Service and friendliness 9⃣

Panas Gurkha on Urbanspoon