Indian food

How to cook… Handi Chicken

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Serves 4 as a main dish

Handi Chicken is a popular Punjabi dish named after the wide Indian cooking pot used particularly in north India and Pakistan. The famous Balti has origins in dishes such as these.

What you need…
• 2 Tablespoons ghee
• 3 onions sliced
• 2 teaspoons ginger paste
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• salt to taste
• 800g chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 5-6 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Tablespoons plain yoghurt
• 1 Tablespoon double cream
• small handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Spice Mix 1
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds crushed
• 3 whole chillies

Spice Mix 2
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder


How to make it…
1. Heat the ghee in a pan. Add Spice Mix 1 and fry for 15 seconds. to test if ghee is hot enough put in one cumin seed. It should sizzle immediately).
2. Add the onions and fry until they are golden brown.
3. Add the ginger, garlic, Spice Mix 2 and salt, stir well and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add in the chicken and cook until all the pieces are white. This should take about 3–4 minutes.
5. Add in the tomatoes and cook for 8 minutes.
6. Add in the yoghurt, cream and most of the fresh coriander (keep a small bit for the garnish), stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes. Ensure that the chicken is cooked through.
7. Serve, garnished with the remainder of the fresh coriander.
• Recipe by Kedar Chandra, chef at Pakbo restaurant in Flic en Flac, Mauritius.


CHEF’S TIP
The stalks of the coriander have the most flavour, so mix them in with the curry and keep the leaves for the garnish.

If you like this you should try our…
Sindhi Biryani • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona

Why did the chicken cross the leather? … To get to the other suede.

How to make… Paneer

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Makes 250g of paneer

What you need…
• 6 pints full cream milk
• 1–2 Tablespoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice

How to make it…
1. Put the milk into a pan and bring to the boil. Keep stirring to ensure the milk does not stick or burn as this will ruin the taste of the paneer. You’ll know it has boiled when a mound forms on the surface of the milk
2. Take the pan off the heat and add the vinegar or lemon juice a little at a time until the milk separates (these are the curds forming). The separation is pretty obvious so if the whey (what’s left after the curds are forming) still looks like milk, keep going with the vinegar or lemon juice. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
3. Next, remove the curds from the whey. Put some cheesecloth (you can also use muslin or even a J-cloth) over a large bowl and pour the mixture through it to strain out the whey. Rinse the curds with cold water to wash away the taste of the acid.
4. Bring the edges of the cloth together to wrap the curds and squeeze as gently as possible (this ensures the paneer will be soft and crumbly and not flattened completely). Make sure all the liquid had been removed.
5. Put a weight on it and leave it for an hour or more. Some more liquid will come out so put something underneath it.
6. The paneer will have formed and you can now cut it into chunks or strips for use.
• Thanks to Chili Paper Chains. Main photo: Sonja Pauen, CCA.

CHEF’S TIP
Full cream milk is essential for the proper taste of paneer.
Paneer is beautiful with creamy sauces such as Butter Paneer or as a side dish with spinach.

If you like this you should try our…
Butter Paneer • Muttar Paneer • Sag Paneer

What is a paneer diet? … Curds and weigh.

How to cook… Chicken Chilli Dry Fry

Recipes

Serves 2 as a starter

Chicken Chilli Dry Fry is an Indo-Chinese stir-fry dish, combining flavours from both cuisines. It is a very hot, dry dish and should be always be served fresh.

What you need…
• 2 Tablespoons cornflour
• 6 teaspoons soy sauce
• 150g chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks
• 3 Tablespoons oil
• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 0.5 green pepper, sliced into strips
• 1–3 green chillies (to your taste), chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 0.5 teaspoon red chilli flakes
• 1 tomato, roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• a few coriander leaves, for garnish

How to make it…
1. Mix the cornflour with 4 teaspoons of soy sauce and coat the chicken in the mixture. Marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Heat oil to a medium-hot heat. Fry the chicken until all the pieces are sealed (about 2–3 minutes), then set aside.
3. Add the green peppers to the pan and stir-fry until they start to soften (about 3–4 minutes).
4. Add the onions, chillies, pepper and chilli flakes and stir fry for another 2–3 minutes. Add a tiny bit of water if needed but not too much as this is a dry dish.
5. Add the rest of soya sauce and mix in well.
6. Add in the tomatoes and chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked.
7. Garnish with spring onion and coriander and serve fresh.

CHEF’S TIP
If you enjoy this dish then start looking out for other Hakka Chinese dishes, a distinct Indo-Chinese cuisine that developed from a small group of people who settled in Kolkota from China.

If you like this you should try our…
Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Butter Chicken

Two chillis walk into a bar and ask for a menu. Sorry guys we don’t serve food.

How to cook… Bhuni Shakarkandi

Recipes

Serves 4 as a snack or starter

Bhuni Shakakandi (Roasted Sweet Potato) is a popular Punjabi street snack. It’s pretty simple to make yet tasty and filling with bread of your choice.

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
• 2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped


How you make it…
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven for about 35 minutes or until tender.
2. Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut into 2.5cm rounds.
3. Put the sweet potato in a bowl, add the chilli powder, cumin, amchoor and salt and mix well.
4. 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.

If you like this you should try our…
Stuffed Pan-Fried Chillies (Bharwan Mircha) • Sindhi Biryani • Medium • Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona

Why are potatoes so fat? … Because they are couch potatoes.

How to cook… Jeera Chicken

Recipes

Serves 4 as a starter

Jeera Chicken (chicken cooked with cumin) is a simple and quick dish to cook so it makes an ideal starter or snack. It’s a dry dish, cooked in only its own juices and a small amount of oil and water and has a lovely golden colour from the turmeric. It’s delicious when served with chutneys and a bit of salad.

What you need…
• 1 Tablespoon ghee
• 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
• 300g chicken, cut into small bite-size chunks (the chunks should be a bit smaller than the ones you use for main dishes)
• 0.5 onion sliced
• 1 Tablespoon water
• salt to taste

Spice Mix
• 0.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 0.5 teaspoon chilli powder

How to make it…
1. Heat the ghee to a high heat. While it is heating up mix the Spice Mix with enough water to form a sloppy paste.
2. Add the cumin seeds to the pan and fry for 15 seconds. They should sizzle immediately. You can test the ghee is hot enough by adding one seed.
3. Add the Spice Mix and cook for 2 minutes. It should now be thick and gloopy.
4. Add the chicken and stir fry for five minutes, ensuring all the pieces are nicely coated in the spices. Keep stirring as it will be very dry. Add the water if needed but keep it as dry as you can.
5. Add the onion and salt and continue stir frying until the chicken is fully cooked.
6. Serve with chutneys and salad.

CHEF’S TIP
Jeera Chicken also makes an excellent main dish for people who like dry dishes. Simply double the quantities shown above..
Lighly spiced, Jeera Chicken is a quick and simple dish to make.

If you like this you should try our…
Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona

This guy who comes into our local restaurant is always being rude. One day the waiter had had enough and tipped a bowl of curry over his head. He never saw that cumin.

How to cook… Dal Makhani

Recipes

Serves 4 as a side dish

Dal Makani is a superbly rich dish, packed so full of energy that it’s been dubbed the marching food of the troops heading into battles. Preparation and patience are the key to this dish as the lentils have to be soaked for hours and then cooked until soft. But you’ll be rewarded with a luxurious dish of spices, ghee, cream and butter.

What you need…
• 150g whole urad dhal (black lentils)
• 50g rajma (red kidney beans)
• 50g chana dhal
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons ghee
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 0.5 teaspoon fenugreek seed
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 100g tomato puree
• 30g cream

Spice Mix
• 0.5 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder

How to make it…
1. Wash all the lentils (urad, rajma and chana dhal) in water. You will need to rinse through them a few times until the milkiness clears. Now soak them for at least six hours or preferably overnight.
2. Boil the lentils in fresh water with the salt. Simmer on low heat until lentils are well cooked and soft. This will take three to four hours, although you could use a pressure cooker to speed up the process.
3. Drain off the excess water and mesh the lentils lightly. If they are not soft enough you will need to cook them for longer.
4. Mix the Spice Mix with enough water to create a sloppy paste.
5. Heat the ghee in a pan until hot. Add the cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds and stir fry for 15 seconds. They should sizzle immediately. You can test the ghee is hot enough by adding one seed.
6. Add garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute on a lower heat. You may have to remove the pan from the heat initially to stop it burning. (If it burns then throw it away and start again.)
7. Add Spice Mix and tomato puree and stir for 1 minute.
8. Add the cooked dal, 1 Tablespoon of butter and the cream (keep a tiny bit back for the garnish) mix well and warm though. The dal should be the consistency of a thick but pourable soup. Add hot water to achieve this consistency if needed.
9. Serve with a swirl of cream as garnish and the rest of the butter in the middle (this will quickly melt).
• Recipe and photos courtesy of Gurkha’s Inn, Greenwich.

CHEF’S TIP
Dal Makhani is delicious spooned over white rice or mopped up with a nan bread.
Dal Makhani, creamy and delicious.

If you like this you should try our…
Lamb Madras • Chilli Paneer • Sag Paneer • Muttar Paneer • Prawn Madras • Prawn Rogan • Prawn Vindaloo • Prawn Dopiaza • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Butter Chicken • Chicken Dopiaza • Mushroom Bhajee

“Did you just ring me last night,” the waiter asked. “No, sorry, I pocket dalled you.

Curry Guide…Whisky and Curry

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Fancy a change from beer with your curry? The spices in whisky make it an ideal drink to accompany your favourite spice dish. Try the smoky blend Johnnie Walker Black or the super peaty Islay single malt Laphroaig with Chicken Tikka Masala for instance.

serveimage-3Whisky 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’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 with 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.

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 idea why 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: Mutter 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.

 

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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Curry Guide… Saffron

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Saffron is a highly prized spice used for seasoning and flavouring, especially in Indian and Middle Eastern food. The delicate stigmas (or threads) are plucked from the saffron crocus and dried before use. Due to this intensive process to harvest just a few stigmas and the fact that it grows in only a few countries around the world, the cost of saffron is very high. So high, in fact, that the question “what spice is more expensive than gold?” has become a staple of nearly everyone who has leaned against a bar with a beer.

Oh, how we all love to exclaim: “saffron!” very loudly as if we have found the secret to the universe. It’s a ritual that’s made all the more fun because it’s not actually true (gold costs more than £32,000 per kg as compared to about £2,500 per kg of saffron)*

Saffron users are also going to need quite a bit of storage space to match its “weight in gold”. With a standard gold bar, as used by the bullion traders and banks, weighing 12.4kg you’re going to need a whopping 24,800 of these 0.5g packs that are sold by Tesco supermarket (at £2.50 each that would set you back £62,000)*.

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But you’re certainly not going to need anything like that to spice up your food. Just a couple of strands is enough to add a beautiful flavour and aroma to your pilau rices, biryanis and kormas. The best way to use saffron is to put a couple of strands in a small amount of warm water or milk and press gently with the back of a spoon. This will release all the wonders of the spice, which can then be added to your dish.

The high cost of saffron means it is unlikely to be used in many restaurants. They will instead use the cheaper safflower, turmeric or colouring agents to try to mimic the properties of saffron.

Saffron is also know as zaffron or kesar (Hindi) and the largest producer of it is Iran, followed by Greece (where it was first cultivated), Morocco and Kashmir. Saffron has also been used for medicinal purposes and as a dye for clothes, its stigmas creating a colour which would have conferred status on the wearer due to its high cost.

* At 10 January 2019.

Photos: Pexels and Tesco. 

 

 

 

 

Curry Guide… Goan Cuisine

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The food in Goa is quite distinctive from the rest of the India, despite it being one of the smallest states in the country and home to fewer than 1.5 million people. Its location along the western coast of the country, by the Arabian Sea, means seafood features prominently in its cuisine and because its population is largely Christian (Catholic), thanks to just over 450 years of Portuguese occupation, beef and pork are also common, unlike in the rest of India. Chillies are also important in Goan cuisine having been introduced to to the country by the Portuguese in 1498. Curries without chillies, who’d have thought? The Indians used peppers for heat before that.

The most famous Goan dish is Vindaloo, which is a favourite of all heat lovers. Vin means vinegar, thanks to the southern Europeans and the aloo bit is for the amount of garlic in it (the aloo bit is commonly confused as meaning potato because “aloo” means “potato” in Hindi and chunks of the good old spud is in the dish. The traditional dish, cooked with loads of vinegar and pork, is nothing like the curry house dish you’ll get in Britain, although it does share the heat levels.

Other well-known Goan dishes are Xacuti, a dish of chicken or prawns with chilli, white poppy seeds and coconut, and Cafrael, a Portuguese-Indian combination dish which uses a lot of coriander and lime juice and has its roots in Africa.

Photo: Zerohund Wikipedia.

Curry Guide… Korma

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IMG_0810The poor old Korma gets a bit of a bad press in Britain. The obsession among some people in eating ever hotter curries means the Korma gets lumped with the “curry novices” tag because it is mild and creamy. And to be fair, the quick and easy Kormas some restaurants turn out have hardly done anything to raise its status. The pale dish that most diners are familiar with uses very little spice – garam masala and perhaps a little turmeric – which is mixed with puréed onions, garlic, cream, cream coconut and ground almonds.

And, yet, a well-cooked Korma can be one of the tastiest dishes on a menu – it was certainly highly regarded by the courts of the Moghuls and is said to have been served at the inauguration of the Taj Mahal. Korma actually refers to a style of cooking where the chef starts by frying ingredients with oil and avoids using adding water until towards the end of the process. The water must be fully evaporated by the end of the cooking. As such there is no reason why a Kormas has to be mild at all – and indeed there are many Kormas which use chillies.

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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Curry Guide… Coriander

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IMG_0651Coriander is one of the most important spices in Indian cooking and is used as whole seeds (brown/cream colour), ground (brown) and fresh leaves (as pictured). The seeds give a slightly sweet flavour while the leaves are pungent and add a distinctive taste to many well-known curries. The leaves can be mixed into curries (the stems give the strongest flavour) or added to the top for garnish (or often both). To release the flavours and aromas of the coriander leaves it is best to bruise them gently with your fingers and tear them into pieces with your hands rather than chopping them up using a knife.

 

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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Curry Guide… the Chef’s Region

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Do you want a curry that’s cooked to perfection? Next time you go for a spicy meal ask the waiter if the chef would recommend a special dish from the country or region he’s originally from.

Chefs can, of course, cook lots of different dishes from different regions, but they will almost certainly have perfected the dishes from the place where they grew up or learned to cook. Remember, the dish will not necessarily something from the menu under the header “Chef’s recommendations”.

 

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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Curry Guide… Tandoori Chicken

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Tandoori Chicken is a now popular dish across the world but it has its roots in the region that today comprises Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwest India. The chicken is marinated in yoghurt and a mix of tandoori spices, then cooked in a tandoor oven, with the heat from the wood or charcoal giving the dish its trademark smokiness. The edges of the chicken are often slightly charred and the meat is scored (this was the allow the marinade to penetrate deeper).

Tandoori Chicken Gurkha's InnThe red colour of the meat comes from the cayenne pepper, red chilli powder and turmeric in the spice mix, although some chefs add food colouring. In recent years there has been a backlash against the use of this red colouring and the days of Day-Glo looking chicken are slowly becoming a thing of the past.

Tandoori Chicken is a popular starter with chutneys and makes a great snack with a Butter Nan.It also serves the base for a number of curries such as Butter Chicken. The chicken is often served to the table sizzling and for that reason it is sometimes called a Sizzler.

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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Recipe… Handi Chicken

Recipes

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Handi Chicken
Serves 4

What you need
• 3 tsp ghee
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds crushed
• 3 whole chillies
• 3 onions sliced
• 2 tsp ginger paste
• 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp dried fenugreek
• salt to taste
• 750g chicken cut into bite-sized chunks
• 5-6 tomatoes chopped
• 1½ cup plain yoghurt
• 1 cup cream
• Handful of fresh coriander, chopped

How you cook it
1. Heat ghee in a pan.
2. Add the cumin seeds, crushed coriander, whole chillies and fry for 20 seconds (to test if ghee is hot enough put in one cumin seed. It should sizzle immediately).
3. Add the onions and fry until they are golden brown.
4. Add the ginger paste, chopped garlic, turmeric powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, dried fenugreek, salt and stir well.
5. Add in the chicken and cook until all the pieces are white (but not fully cooked). This should take about five minutes.
6. Add in the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
7. Add in the yoghurt, cream and most of the fresh coriander (keep a small bit for the garnish), stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes. Ensure that the chicken is cooked through.
8. Once ready put into a serving bowl and garnish with the remainder of the fresh coriander.
9. Serve with rice, chapati and a yoghurt and tomato raita.

Kedar
Recipe by Kedar Chandra, chef at Pakbo restaurant in Flic en Flac, Mauritius.

 

 

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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How much do people spend on a curry?

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In a recent survey we asked: “How much do you expect to spend when you visit an Indian restaurant per person, including drinks?”

More than half of people (58%) said they’d be looking at over £25, while 24% were settling for a nice £21-24 and 16% just £16-£20. Some 2% reckon they can get out for a curry in a restaurant for under £15. Must be a fun night that one!

The Spice Card offers savings on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. You can get your Spice Card here.

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The most popular hot curries

Curry News

In a recent survey we asked: “How hot can you go with your curries?”

The Goan classic, Vindaloo was a narrow winner with our spice heads, just pipping that perennial favourite Madras, which was preferred by 29% of curry fans. The super hot Phall polled 19% among the serious heat lovers, while another 19% said they couldn’t eat anything that hot. Korma or Chicken Tikka Masala it is for them then.

Spice Card holders can enjoy a 20% discount on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. Get your Spice Card here…

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The most popular Indian bread

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In a recent survey we asked “When it comes to bread in an Indian restaurant what do you go for?”

The runaway winner with 53% of people was the good old classic Nan. Perfect for mopping up that delicious sauce no doubt. Some 27% plumped for another type of nan (Peshwari, Keema, Garlic etc), while 20% prefer Chapati/Roti.

Spice Card holders can enjoy a 20% discount on curries, including on takeaways at many venues. Get your Spice Card here…

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Bexleyheath, Kent (Masala Inn)

1. Reviews (London)

Masala Inn, Bexleyheath

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Out on tour then, eh?
Indeed, right to the fringes of London for this trip. But it’s a really good restaurant and worth the trip. I’ve been here before and thought a second visit was in order.

What did you order?
The pan-fried Scallops and Chilli Ponir to start. The lightly spiced scallops were the business and perfectly cooked. The nice, chunky Ponir was certainly home-made and moreish enough and I could have done with more. The fresh chopped chillies were gobbled up.

Sounds like a good start. What came next?
The Railway Chicken. I’ve had it before and it just had to get a second tasting. The dish is served on the trains of India and with 16 million travellers using them every day it’s fair too assume the dish has been served a fair few times over the years. There is no standard recipe for a Railway Curry because there are thousands of kitchens serving the travellers across the country (although the India Railways did attempt to standardise dishes served on the railways in 2009). Similarly, you’ll find variations from restaurant to restaurant, although all of them are generally thick with chunky ingredients and rustic in style.

Is it hot?
No, Railway Chicken is medium-hot but if you want real heat then look no further than Garlic Naga Chicken. With the fiery sauce from the tiny north-eastern Indian state added to slices of the heat-giving garlic you’ll soon be looking around for a swig of Cobra. Of course, if you are silly enough to order a Chilli Nan to go with it, then you’ll need an extra swig.

Surely no one is daft enough to do that?
Ahem, er no, of course not.

 

Price check
Drinks: Cobra (pint) £5.50
Popadoms: 75p each
Starters: Scallops £5.95, Chilli Ponir £5.50
Mains: Railway Chicken £11.95, Garlic Naga Chicken £8.75
Rice: Pilau Rice £2.60
Nan: Chilli Nan £2.65

Masala Inn, 220 Broadway, Bexleyheath, DA6 7AU.
Tel: 020 8303 5245 (reservations)

Open
Monday–Thursday 5pm to 11pm
Friday– Saturday 5pm to 11.30pm

You can enjoy savings on food at the Masala Inn with the Spice Card. Get your Spice Card here…
Sunday noon to 2.30pm and 5pm to 11pm

Liss, Hampshire (Madhuban)

2. Reviews (Other UK)

Madhuban, Liss, Hampshire

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Ok, where’s this place?
It’s a village of about 6,000 people, about 20 miles north of Portsmouth.

What’s its Indian restaurant like?
It’s actually got two but Madhuban is the famous one.

Famous?
Absolutely, people travel from far and wide to eat here and the curry guru Pat Chapman raves about the place. He even named it as one of the top restaurants in the country in his Cobra Good Curry Guide.

Have you been here before?
Been here before? I came here the year it opened in 1987 and have been coming here whenever I’m in the area ever since.

Wow you must have seen some changes?
You bet. It was a 30-seater restaurant when it started and now it has 130 covers. It’s well designed, with a modern bar and waiting area and side-lit carvings of classical dancers (Bharat Natyam) and plants in the wall recesses. It was even packed on my last visit on a Wednesday night. It felt like everyone turned up at the same time which meant the service was a bit slow but it was still as friendly and warm as the first day I visited the restaurant.

And so to the food then?
The Railway Chicken and Egg Curry is a nod to the famous food found on the Indian railways. I’ve had it a few times. It’s thick with meat, vegetables and sauce, with a boiled egg in the middle. Rustic, just as it should be. The Chicken Tikka Darjeeling Masala is also highly recommended, with green tikka a great change (and very fresh tasting). According to the menu, the dish is in tribute to the garden in the Bangladeshi home of Lodue, the man behind the Madhuban. The Achari Chicken and Kashmiri Pilao (with lychees) was also devoured, as was the Madhuban Special Chicken, which  is a combination of the flavours of Bhoona, Korma and Tikka Masala.

What else is on the menu?
Maybe you should ask what isn’t on the menu! It’s one of the biggest menus I’ve every seen – and I don’t mean just the printed menu, which is a large-format eight-page masterpiece of information on dishes and spices. There are something like 150 menu options (I gave up counting after page three) and a promise to try to make anything that’s not on the menu if you ask!

The chefs must be superhuman.
They certainly do a top job with all those options. Everything on our table of eight was very good. The bill, including drinks, came to just over £160.

What’s the damage?
Drinks: Cobra (draught) £3.95 (large bottle) £4.75, white wine (large glass) £5, Lemonade (pint) £3.50, Diet Coke or Lime and soda (small) £2.50
Popadoms: 60p each and 60p each for pickles
Starter: didn’t have any
Mains: Zeera Prawn Masala £11.50, Chicken Tikka Darjeeling Masala, Achari Chicken, Railway Chicken and Egg Curry £10.95, Madhuban Special Chicken £10.50, Jungli Maas Chicken £9.95, Rogon Chicken £9.50
Sides: Sag Paneer, Bombay Aloo £3.95
Rice: Mushroom Rice, Kashmiri Pilao £3.50, Pilao Rice £2.95
Nan: Keema Nan £3.95, Peshwari Nan £2.95

Madhuban, 94 Station Road, Liss, Hampshire, GU33 7AQ.
Tel: +44 1730 893363 or +44 1730 894372.

Open
Monday to Thursday: 5.30pm–10.30pm.
Friday: 5.30pm–11.30pm.
Saturday: noon–2.30pm and 5.30pm–11.30pm.
Sunday: noon–2.30pm and 5.30pm–10.30pm.

Greenwich (Mogul)

1. Reviews (London)

Mogul_1_53

10 Greenwich Church Street, Greenwich, SE10 9BJ
Tel: 020 8858 6790
E-mail: mail@mogulindian.co.uk
www: mogulindian.co.uk
Open:
Monday–Friday noon to 3pm and 5.30pm to 11pm
Saturday–Sunday noon to 11pm

Where is it? Right in the heart of Greenwich at the Church Street entrance to the famous Market.

How do I get there?
DLR: Cutty Sark DLR station is just over the road.
Train: Greenwich station is a four-minute walk away.
Bus: 177, 180, 188, 199, 386 and N199 stop nearby.
Parking: There is some street parking if you get lucky or the car park behind the Greenwich Picturehouse (accessed off Burney Street) is a short walk away.

What’s their story? The Mogul, the only Indian restaurant in the centre of Greenwich, celebrates its 40th year in business this year. Spread over three floors, it is housed in an attractive four-storey Grade II Listed building dating back to the 17th century. The street-level ground floor is perfect for watching Greenwich life drift by, while smaller groups looking for an intimate atmosphere will be attracted to the downstairs cellar area and its cosy alcoves. The upstairs area is reserved for private dining or special events and can accommodate up to 20 seated diners. Each floor has its own service bar. Note: The Mogul also has another premises, a dedicated takeaway called Mogul Home Dining, in Trafalgar Road.

What’s the menu like? Contemporary and classy, with a modern-take on its sprinkling of old-time favourites. There is a dedicated lunch menu for busy people who are looking for a smaller meal at a decent price.

Oh, please tell me more…
Popadoms: Plain or spicy with chutneys (£1)
Starters: Okra Fries (£4), Onion Bhajis (£4.50)
Mains: Paneer Saslick (£7) Chicken Jalfrezi (£9.50), Acharia Gosht (£10.50), King Prawn Masala (£14.50)
Sides: Channa Masala, Saag Aloo (£4.50), Daal Makhani (£5)
Rice: Pilau rice (£3.50)
Bread: Tandoori roti (£2), naan (£2.70)
Lunch: Aloo Paratha and yoghurt (£6), Selection of wraps (£7)
* You will enjoy a 20% off these prices (eat-in and takeaway, including deliveries) with your Spice Card in the evening from Sunday to Thursday.

Mogul PDF Menu

Tell me something about one of the dishes… The deliciously creamy Punjabi favourite, Daal Makhani, is a dish so packed with energy that it’s been called the marching food of soldiers because of the energy it gives them. It’s cooked with urid lentils and kidney beans, which have to be soaked for hours to make them soft, and then spice and cream are added.

What about drinks? There is wide selection of beers, ciders, wines, spirits and soft drinks. These include draught Cobra and Guinness (on surge), bottled Kingfisher, London Meantime Lager and Magner’s. The well-balanced wine list goes beyond the offerings normally found in Indian restaurants and includes white, red, rosé and sparkling choices from France, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Argentina and Spain.

What they say… “The Mogul has become an institution in the heart of Greenwich. The multiple floors in the restaurant, each with its different vibe, mean we can cater for a wide range of events, whether it’s a business lunch or dinner, an intimate meal for two or a lively night out with friends and family. We are proud to have been serving this beautiful part of London for 40 years.” – Pushvinder Dale, Owner.

What we say… “The Mogul has a long-standing reputation for serving top-quality Indian food and will always be close to our heart as it was the venue for the first-ever Greenwich Curry Club meeting. The alcoves are intimate and full of character for a night out. Order up a selection of dishes from around India such as a Goan Fish Curry, Hyderbadi favourite Lamb Pasanda and a spicy Chicken Chilli Masala and tuck in.” – The Greenwich Curry Club.

What can I enjoy at the Mogul with my Spice Card?
YES 20% Discount • Sun–Thur • Eat-in, Delivery & Collection • 2 diners per Spice Card
NO Mother’s Day • Father’s Day • Valentine’s Day • 20 Dec to New Year’s Day
020 8858 6790 (table bookings and collections) or 020 8858 1500 (deliveries)
Minimum for delivery: £15 (after discount)