How to cook… Chicken Livers Curry

On September 21, 2020March 11, 2026 By In Uncategorized

Serves 4 as a main dish

Often overlooked as an ingredient, chicken livers are excellent when curried. In this Chicken Liver Curry you need to marinate the livers first then cook them in a classic spicy tomato and onion sauce.

What you need…
• 600g chicken livers, washed and drained and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 Tablespoons oil
• 1.5 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 4cm piece of ginger, peeled and cut into slivers
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 0.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste

Marinade
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 0.25 teaspoon ground black powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 3 Tablespoons chopped coriander
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• Salt to taste

**CHEF’S TIP**
Soaking the livers in milk before marinating for 30 minutes will remove the bitterness.

How you make it…
1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together and coat the chicken livers with it. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Heat 2 Tablespoons oil to a medium heat and fry the chicken livers until they all brown (about 4-5 minutes). Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Add the rest of the oil to the pan and fry the onion until it softens (about 5 minutes).
4. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute.
5. Add the chilli powder, turmeric powder, tomato, tomato paste and a little water, mix well, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more water if needed.
6. Add half the coriander, garam masala and salt and mix well.
7. Add the livers with any juices and stir fry until the are soft and buttery (about 2-3 minutes).
8. Check a piece of liver to ensure it is cooked and once you are happy add the rest of the coriander and serve.

If you like this you should try our…
Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Feet Curry (Africa)
People who order this dish never share… They’ll just tell you, “liver my food alone!”

How to cook… Lamb Vindaloo

On June 5, 2020March 11, 2026 By In Recipes1 Comment

Serves 4 as a main dish

Lamb Vindaloo is for curry lovers who are after some serious heat. The restaurant-style Lamb Vindaloo has heat from the peppercorns and chilli, sourness from the vinegar and includes it’s trademark chunks of potato in a thick, dark sauce.

What you need…
• 1 large potato, cut into 5cm chunks (you should have 6-8 of them)
• 2 Tablespoons ghee
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 800g lamb, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 600ml Base Curry Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons tomato ketchup
• salt to taste
• 0.5 onion sliced
• 1.5 Tablespoon vinegar

Spice Mix 1
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 0.5 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

Spice Mix 2
• 1 Tablespoon curry powder
• 4 teaspoons chilli powder
• 1 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 1 Tablespoon garam masala

How to make it…
1. Boil the potato chunks until cooked. Set the potatoes aside once cooked.
2. Heat the ghee to a high heat. Add the Spice Mix 1 and fry for 15 seconds. The spices should sizzle immediately when you add them to the ghee. You can test it is hot enough by adding one cumin seed.
3. Add the garlic paste and cook for 1 minute on a lower heat. You may have to remove the pan from the heat for a while to the paste burning. (If it burns then throw it away and start again.)
4. Add the lamb and stir fry until sealed (about 2–3 minutes).
5. Add the Base Curry Sauce and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed to avoid it sticking.
6. Add the Spice Mix 2 and tomato ketchup, mix well and cook for 20 minutes.
7. Add the salt, onion and vinegar and continue cooking until the lamb is tender (about 5 minutes). Add water, as needed, to maintain the consistency.
8. Finally, add the cooked potato pieces, make sure they are coated in the sauce but be careful not to break the pieces up, and serve.

**CHEF’S TIP**
Add water to this dish as it cooks to maintain the consistency but don’t overdo it because you want a thick, dark sauce when it is served.

**Lamb Vindaloo**, extra hot in a dark, rich sauce.

If you like this you should try our…
Lamb Madras • Chicken Phall • Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo •Chicken Bhoona
Check out 5 Best Goa Curries
Where do chillies live? … Scoville.

How to cook… Egg and Potato Curry

On May 23, 2020March 11, 2026 By In Recipes1 Comment

Serves 4 as a main dish

Egg and Potato Curry is a hugely popular dish in India yet it’s difficult to find outside the sub-continent. This Punjabi-style recipe is easy to make. Boiled eggs are sealed in oil then added to a tomato sauce that has been infused with aromatic whole spices.

What you need…
• 8 eggs
• 3 potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• salt to taste
• 3 Tablespoon oil
• 1.5 onions, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon garlic, roughly chopped
• 2–3cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 400g chopped tomatoes
• small handful coriander (chop up the stems to add to the curry and set aside the leaves for garnish if you want garnish).

Spice Mix 1
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 2 cardamom pods (cracked open but not crushed)
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 whole dried red chillies (or a teaspoon of crushed dried chillies)
• 1 bay leaf

Spice Mix 2
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 0.5 teaspoon chilli powder (more if you like your curries hot)

How you make it…
1. Hard boil the eggs and remove the shells. Set aside.
2. Pat dry the potatoes with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.
3. Heat the oil to medium-hot in a pan and fry the potatoes until they are cooked through and just start to brown. Set aside.
4. Fry the eggs in the same oil for about 5 minutes, rolling them frequently to avoid them crisping. Remove eggs and set aside.
5. Turn up the heat to ensure the oil is piping hot. Add the whole spices and cook for 15 seconds. They should sizzle immediately. You can test the ghee is hot enough by adding a cardamom pod. You want to infuse the oil with the flavours of the whole spices but if they burn you will have to do stage 5 again.
6. Add the onion, garlic and ginger, mix well, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Add the tomatoes, Spice Mix 2, coriander stems, mix well and cook for 10 minutes. Add water, as needed, to keep the sauce pourable.
8. Add the potatoes and eggs. Make sure the eggs are coated with the sauce but be careful not to break them up. Heat through for about 5 minutes.
9. Serve, garnished with the (optional) coriander leaves.

**CHEF’S TIP**
We’ve worked on two eggs per person. If people with larger appetites are coming for dinner then simply boil extra eggs.

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 road? … To chat to the egg and see who crossed first.

Curry Guide… Goan Cuisine

On January 6, 2019 By Daniel FordIn Curry GuideLeave a comment

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

On January 5, 2019 By Daniel FordIn Curry GuideLeave a comment

The 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.

3D card image

Get your Spice Card and love curry more!

On December 30, 2018April 3, 2020 By Daniel FordIn Curry NewsLeave a comment

3D card image

You can save 20% on curry every time you use the Spice Card – on dine-in and takeaways (including takeaways!)

The Spice Card is for lovers of spicy food, whether it’s Indian, Thai, Chinese or Vietnamese – and for just £15 a year you can enjoy savings at restaurants and takeaways across South East London – from Greenwich to Blackheath, Lewisham to Charlton, New Cross, Grove Park, Bexleyheath and the Isle of Dogs.

You will enjoy the savings for dine-in and takeaways (including deliveries) at most venues. You can use the Spice Card as many times as you like during the year.

Yes! I want to buy my Spice Card now!

First you buy your Spice Card for £15. Then you enjoy a curry at one of our partner restaurants or takeaways. Your bill will include a 20% discount on your food. Repeat for a year…

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To see which restaurant and takeaways offer the Spice Card discount head check out the website.

The chart below shows the annual savings you could enjoy with your the Spice Card

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Liss, Hampshire (Madhuban)

On October 18, 2018 By Daniel FordIn 2. Reviews (Other UK)Leave a comment

Madhuban, Liss, Hampshire

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.

The Riz (Margate, Kent)

On January 23, 2018 By Daniel FordIn 2. Reviews (Other UK)Leave a comment

The Riz, Margate

If you love a good old British-style seaside resort and you love a good curry may I direct you to the Riz in Margate?

The smartly dressed owner directed proceedings and gave us all the information we were after when it came to what was and what wasn’t in certain dishes. It’s always good to gauge different dishes and if the owner or staff are happy to help out then they’ve found the right man for a chat.

The decor is as smart as the owner. This is a real little gem, albeit not in the smartest of streets. And it looks like the locals know it too as there was a gaggle of girls getting stuck into and a couple of families enjoying the food.

My previous experience of trying to get a curry in this street had not gone well (yawn! Is it ever coming?) but my Margate friend assured us that this was the place to try. He was right.

The Riz serves superb dishes and they are as fresh as they come. This is the place to dip into South Indian and Sri Lankan dishes. So where to start? How about Nethli Meen Varuval (£4.50), spiced anchovies which are then deep fried. A pretty lively taste of Kerala I’d say. Or Fish Cutlet (£2.50), Sri Lankan traditional fish dumplings, crumb fried and served with hot spicy sauce perhaps?

House specials are parathas, iddapams and puttus, which all use eggs. A chicken paratha, scrambled with eggs and cooked with minced parathas is £6.95. But it’s got to be fish for me so the recommendation is Monkfish Curry with Mango (£8), a Keralan dish made with mango, coconut milk and ginger.

The Riz, 49 Northdown Road, Margate. Tel: 01843 293698.

Scores on the tandoors
Food 9
Decor 8
Service and friendliness 8
Atmosphere 7 (Tuesday evening)
Value for money 8

Blackheath (Chinipan)

On May 5, 2017 By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)1 Comment

Chinipan, SE3

Usually, no matter which corner of London you visit you will find a curry house. So why has there not been one in Blackheath Standard for the last umpteen years? Luckily the rain has come to the desert in the form of Chinipan, a smart Bangladeshi-run place in the premises of the old hardware store.It’s only been open a few months and I’m pleased to see it’s going strong.

The name, meaning sweet leaf, is used on a few of the specials on the menu. I tried the Chinipan Fish Curry (£8.95), with tender, large chunks of salmon. The fish is marinated overnight then sealed in the tandoor for a few minutes before joining the spicy, creamy coconut sauce. A touch of smoked tamarind keeps your taste buds alive throughout.The Chicken Tikka starter (£5.50) was tender and moreish, and a fan of Biryani assured me the chicken version (£10.95) they had was excellent too. It certainly disappeared quickly.

Service is friendly but relaxed and there is an attractive lunch deal (£8.99 for two courses, £10.99 for three) which means it is one of the few local curry places where I often see people eating in the day. The decor is smart, if a little sparse, but it looks as if the team is slowly building a good reputation in this part of SE3.

The restaurant is now fully licensed after a spell of BYO when it first opened at the end of 2016

Chinipan, 15 Old Dover Road, Blackheath, London, SE3 7BT. Tel: 020 8853 5800. Open: daily noon – 3pm, 6pm – 11pm.

Scores on the tandoors
Food 7.5
Decor 6
Service and friendliness 8
Vibe (early Wednesday night) 6
Value 8

Greenwich (Pathiri)

On May 3, 2017 By Daniel FordIn 1. Reviews (London)1 Comment

Pathiri, SE10

Fed up with identikit Indian restaurants and their identikit menus (same old, same old)? Pathiri in Greenwich’s Trafalgar Road could be just what you are looking for. This unassuming little place specialises in Keralan food, the home region of the friendly owner Kutty – and there are plenty of interesting dishes to try.

First up it has to be a couple of the South Indian dosas, the slightly sweet crispy pancakes (think crepes). The Ghee Roast Dosa (£4.75), with a hint of cheese, is a nice way to test the water or go for the more hearty Masala Dosa (£4.99), which is packed with potato, spinach and Nigella seeds (black cumin). The dosas are very large and come with an array of sauces so I’d advise the latter is shared if you don’t want to completely dent your appetite for the main courses.

Clockwise from top left: Vegetable Korma, Cabbage Thoran, Fish with Cassava, mixing the fish with the sauce, the sauce for the fish, pilau rice.

There is a small choice of old-school dishes (Tandoori Chicken anyone?) if you really must, but fish has to be the way to go. Kappa with Fish Curry (fish mixed with cassava and served with a spicy sauce, £9.99) is a heavy, tasty dish and is recommended along with the Green Mango Fish Curry (£7.25). Both dishes use fresh coconut and have a good kick. Plain pilau rice (£2.50) or a Keralan Paratha (£2.50) are the best accompaniments, and coconut rice (£3.50) an overload of the fairground favourite.

Elsewhere, vegetable lovers will rejoice at the array of choices with dishes of beetroot, okra, eggplant, beans spinach, paneer and eggs all on the menu (from £4.50 as side dishes). But most importantly, Pathiri has a chef who takes his vegetables seriously (the Cabbage Thoran, £4.50, was probably the best cabbage dish I have ever had) and not as an afterthought to sit sadly next to the meat dishes.

Pathiri operates a BYO policy and on Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes you can try a range of dishes with their South Indian Thalis (£8.99 veg, £9.99 non-veg).

Pathiri, 119 Trafalgar Road, Greenwich, London, SE10 9TX. Tel: 020 8858 1220. E-mail: info@pathiri.co.uk.

Scores on the tandoors
Food 7.5
Decor 5
Service and friendliness 8
Atmosphere 6 (Wednesday evening)
Value 8

The Royal Curry Club

Tag: Spicy food

How to cook… Chicken Livers Curry

How to cook… Lamb Vindaloo

How to cook… Egg and Potato Curry

Curry Guide… Goan Cuisine

Curry Guide… Korma

Get your Spice Card and love curry more!

Liss, Hampshire (Madhuban)

The Riz (Margate, Kent)

Blackheath (Chinipan)

Greenwich (Pathiri)

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