Mr Singh’s slow-cooked lamb curry

Mr Singh’s slow-cooked lamb curry

Happy New Year Curry Clubers! Here’s hoping your 2015 is full of belly-warming chillis, vibrant turmeric and comforting cinnamon. This site originally started up as my New Year’s resolution a couple of years ago and I feel like I’ve only just scratched the spicy surface.

Yours truly and dad

I would encourage anyone who likes curries to try cooking their own from scratch. It is much, much easier then you think. Hell, even I can do it!

Here are 5 easy steps to get you started:

1. Find a good ethnic food store—the spice is cheap and plentiful, and they stock all sorts of interesting ingredients in bulk.
2. Buy an inspiring cookbook from a chef you trust. If you have a special interest (vegetarian food, seafood, quick recipes) then buy one that suits.
3. Buy a spice grinder. Plug-in ones are cheap and good for grinding coffee too, or you can just use a basic pestle and mortar. Mini-choppers are great for dicing onions and whizzing up a ginger and garlic paste too (the base of most curries) and don’t take up much space either.
4. Build up a basic spice library. Chilli, coriander, turmeric, cumin, and fresh ginger will go far.
5. Find a good way to store your spices for ease of access. I use handy spinning racks.

Photos are from our first curry of 2015 — Mr Singh’s slow-cooked lamb curry with cloves and cardamom by Rick Stein — a family lunch with my parents and in-laws. 9/10. Nice!

2014: Rick Stein & Relocation

Apologies that Curry Club has been so inactive lately. Big changes have been afoot here: our house purchase in south London fell through and subsequently I have started a new job in Brighton and we have relocated to the south coast! Curry Club will retain its original name despite relocating to the seaside.

I’ve missed the Bengal Lancer in Kentish Town, but Hove Tandoori (hovetandoori.com) is a good temporary replacement. I’m still unsure about Brighton’s premier curry restaurant, The Chilli Pickle (thechillipickle.com), which seems rather greasy and overpriced—a rather inferior version of Dishoom.

Rick Stein’s India book has helped to stave off the Bengal Lancer withdrawal symptoms and I have successfully made the following this autumn/winter:

* Beef vindaloo (with delicious short beef ribs and 2/3 amount of chills)
— 8/10
* Nimish (a quick, creamy desert. Very nice despite the lack of morning
dew) — 7/10
* Squid curry (de-beaking the critters was a rather long-winded process,
but worthwhile — 9/10

Hopefully Curry Club will return with vigour next year. Happy 2015!

Chicken karhai with mint • Blueberry muffins

New member

Curryclub  gained a new member this past week: a dapper chap called Alan. We picked him up last weekend from the excellent North London Cats Protection League (sadly not the furry football team I imagine; http://www.northlondon.cats.org.uk). The little man only has one eye but that’s not holding him back; a couple of days ago he stole a sausage from an unattended toad-in-the-hole and was still clutching onto it when I removed him from the scene of the crime…

Martin Creed, “What’s the point of it”

I visited Martin Creed’s new exhibition “What’s the point of it” at the Hayward Gallery on Friday. The highlights were the giant sythe-like neon sign spinning round at the start of the exhibition and the balloon-filled room mid-way round, which made me feel a bit like an atom. All in all an enjoyable evening, but there were a few crummy items along the way. Special thanks to the kind attendant who went out of his way to point my mother and I out onto one of the balconies in the rain so that we didn’t miss the giant close-up 12 x 12ft projection of a penis…

Tonight’s recipes

Tonight’s dinner was a speedy Curry Easy chicken karhai recipe from Madhur Jaffrey. Essentiallly it’s just marinated chicken quickly stir-fried, and with chopped mint added right at the end. It was pretty tasty but nothing particularly nuanced or memorable. I imagine that it would be quite nice in a pitta or wrap with some raita and greenery, though.

Pudding was blueberry muffins a la Mary Berry (or Mezza Bezza as I like to call her). They were okay, but pretty small and a bit lacking in sugar for my tastes – definitely not the big pillowy objects of my muffin-y dreams.

Marks: 6/10

Madhur Jaffrey’s baked beef curry • Wagamama’s chargrilled pineapple slices

Can you guess who it is yet?

Family feasting time

Is there a better way to spend a grey and dreary weekend than at home  tucking into a mama-made curry and snuggling on the sofa watching IT Crowd boxsets? I think not.

The apple mango hasn’t fallen far from the tree in our case – my mum is also a first-class curry fiend. I bought her a copy of Curry Easy for Christmas as I’ve been really impressed by its simplicity and the depth of flavour in the recipes. This Saturday we sat down to an aromatic dinner of home-made “baked beef” and “okra with shallots”– both were very rich and tasty. Mum also made some fresh naan breads using dough from her bread maker – superior skills.

The undoubted highlight of the meal, however, was pudding. A little ray on sunshine on a wet, grey February day, this tasted like caramelized piña colada on a plate – moreishly sweet and exotic – and I liked it a lot. I think it’s time to dust off my Wagamama’s cookbook… Here’s the gist of things if you’d like to give it a try:

Wagamama’s chargrilled pineapple & coconut broth

(serves 2-4)

• Put a can of coconut milk in a pan with 50g white sugar, the zest of half a lime and juice of a whole one. Add 5cm of lemongrass (outer leaves removed) finely sliced.

• Simmer ingredients on a  medium heat for 5 minutes then set aside to cool.

• Heat a griddle pan till almost smoking. Sprinkle 25g sugar over 6 pineapple rings (fresh or tinned) and cook for 1 minute on each side.

• Strain and reheat the sauce and pour over the pineapple to serve.

Marks: 9/10 all-round

Getting spicy south of the river

Evening all. Big change is afoot at Curryclub HQ as we are still busy flat hunting at the moment and pounding the pavements of SE7 et al every Saturday. We’re struggling to find a nice place with a separate kitchen/lounge – curry cooking doesn’t combine too well with open plan living sadly as the spice tends to linger on upholstery.

*What are your favourite curry spots south of the river?*

Any recommendations for Blackheath/Greenwich/Westcombe Park/Charlton neck of the woods would be very much appreciated. I stumbled across this little gem (above) on the small retail park near Westcombe Park Station at the weekend – full of exciting goodies. I’m also looking forward to checking out one or two of these clever crowd-sourced local foraging maps: fallingfruit.org/maps.

Thank youx

Dishoom • Covent Garden

Diwali sweets from Mrs Parmar

Hugh F-W in full flow

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten in the same restaurant twice in one week (with the exception of this Parisian pattiserie – http://www.gerard-mulot.com – although I’m not sure that pastries count), but I did just that this fine November. Seeking refuge from impending middle age, “soft search” mortage quotes and impending recolation south of the Thames I went to Dishoom (www.dishoom.com) in Covent Garden twice in seven days, seeking refuge in an orgy of sleek design, spicy cocktails and creamy chai. By gum it ain’t half good.

Sadly they don’t take bookings for parties of less than 6 people, but the length of the queue on both bitter evenings was testament to the restaurant’s quality and smily young servers distributed cups of chai to queue-ees to chivy them along. Inside, the staff are mic’d up like pilots and the interior is slick, with very little in the way of naff faux-Indian decor: think polished chrome, an Escher-esque tiled floor and comfy leather booths. The food is perfect for sharing and the accompanying chutneys are incredibly fresh. Standout dishes were vada pau (a potato patty in a light-as-air bun), rich black daal, a substantial paneer tikka and chocolate masala chai  – all brilliantly spiced and refreshingly lacking in grease so that we didn’t have to waddle out afterwards.

Pictured above are delicious Diwali sweet courtesy of my friend Emma’s mother-in-law and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall making sweet and sour pork at this week’s “nose to tail” Pig Idea event (thepigidea.org) in Trafalgar Square (not an EDL rally, as my photography skills seem to suggest). The free pork pibil tacos from Wahacas were superb and worth the short wait.

I’m excited about the possibility of moving soon, but after six years in Kentish Town I’ll be sad to leave my old curry haunts behind  – please send recommendations for great South London curry restaurants. So far I’ve heard good things about Ganapati in Peckham and there’s always Tooting’s South Indian delights…merci buckets.

Marks: an unprecedented 10/10!

Spicy lamb chops • Baby aubergines with picking spices (achari baigan) • Okra with carom seeds (ajwaini bhindi)

Hi curry peeps,

Hope you’re all well. It’s been a funny old weekend here. We had another family funeral to go to on Friday – a beautiful woodland burial near Norwich. (We had a lovely eggs Benedict at the cosy Talc cafe in town beforehand – http://www.talcinnorwich.co.uk – which I’d highly recommended). We were feeling rather drained when we got back so we got a heartwarming takeaway from our old friend the Bengal Lancer. I even spotted our upstairs neighbours having a romantic date there when I went to collect the food (incidentally, this entitles you to a 20% discount).

After a mammoth lie-in we came up fighting again on Saturday and had a lovely lunch at Phonecia in Kentish Town (amazing as ever) before exploring a couple of properties with Open House London (www.londonopenhouse.org) – a great opportunity to find the hidden gems in your local area. My favourite was Philip Hughes’ studio – an incredible space with a multitude of mirrors and a spa space hidden in a cosy white ceramic bubble. We also popped in to see the Thomas Hardy tree near St Pancras (pictured above) – a curious nub of history among all the new building around King’s Cross.

With the help of Mr CC and my lovely sister-in-law (cook extraordinaire) we rustled up a delicious spicy dinner using the Food of the Grand Trunk Road cookbook. I’ve also just invested in a copy of Rick Stein’s new India book on her recommendation so watch this space. I’m interested in trying out the Pondicherry-style prawn curry with preserved lemons and fresh herbs. Has anyone tried it out?

We’ve got a busy few weekends coming up – Mr M’s bday, our wedding anniversary and an impromptu trip to Paree, but I’ll do my best to keep in touch.

Marks: 8/10 (please excuse the lack of actual curry content in this post).

Curry Club, the return

Boom! Curry club is back! It’s been a funny old summer – four weddings and two funerals worth to be precise. Doesn’t have much of a ring to it, but therein lies the rub.

There’s been a whisper of autumn crispness in the air today so we seized the day and decided to make a warming Rajasthani red meat curry from Madhur Jaffrey’s Curry Easy (which sounded similar to the amazing dish I ate at Cinnamon Soho). On the side I made some tasty pan-grilled courgettes. The final result was delicious and hot, hot, hot. The recipes were of course, easy…

Rajasthani red meat curry (serves 4–6 people)

• Mix 1 tsp cayenne pepper and 2 tbsp of sweet (or smoked) red paprika.
• Cut up 900g of stewing lamb (shoulder is best) into chunks, rub on the spice mix and leave for a couple of hours.
• Heat 2 tsp oilve oil in a frying pan and fry 5 inches of cinnamon stick, 6 cloves, 8 green cardamon pods and 2 black cardamon pods. After a couple of minutes add one chopped red onion and cook until browned.
• Add 3 tsp ginger and garlic paste, plus 1 tbsp of ground coriander and cook for one minute.
• Add the lamb and cook until browned.
• Add 1 litre of water, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and simmer for an hour (or more) untl the meat is lovely and tender.
• Sprinkle chopped coriander on top and serve with a spoonful or two of greek yoghurt.

Pan-grilled  courgettes (serves 2–4 people)

• Five small courgetters, sliced into quarters
• Fry the slices in olive oil until the skin is turning a chargrilled colour. Lay the slices out and sprinkle with lemon juice, salt, pepper, a sprinking of roasted and ground cumin, and a dash of cayenne pepper.

Try it if you dare.

Marks: 8/10

Cinnamon Soho review – what a load of (delicious) balls

The scene was set for a great evening – drinks at Two Floors and dinner with two of my ex-colleagues from Rough Guides. I was seriously excited to be visiting Cinnamon Soho (http://www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/Soho-Home)– little sister of Cinnamon Kitchen – at last. First impressions were good – sleek metallic and dark wood decor with little to suggest a curry restaurant other than the chic green cinnamon leaf motif on the wall. For starters we shared a £9 selection of “balls”. Despite the unprepossessing name this selection of fried delights – including crab cakes, potato bondas, vegetable shikampur, spiced game and Bangla-scotch eggs, plus accompanying chutneys – was the highlight of our meal and definitely deserves its plaudit of being one of Time Out’s 100 best dishes in London for 2012. I chose a lychee cocktail to kick off with too. It was beautifully presented but I found the blue curacao a bit overwhelming – more personal preference than anything else.For our main courses my friends chose the spice-crusted hake and tandoori-spiced chicken in a cashew nut korma sauce, both of which I had a quick nibble of and which tasted divine. I decided to push the boat out and try the menu’s hottest option,  Rajasthani lamb curry, or laal maas, which was billed as “fiery”. The curry was incredible – richly flavoured and pleasantly warm and flavourful rather than painful to eat. Thumbs up all round.We finished dinner at about 9pm but didn’t leave the restaurant until about 11pm after all our chinwagging and the staff were happy to let us sit and chat. Please excuse my poor photo (above) – I didn’t have time to photograph anything else before the hungry masses (including myself) tucked in!

Marks: 9/10. The bill came to £30 a head for starters, mains, cocktails and coffees, which I think was pretty reasonable. There are also some cheaper (and still-enticing) set-menu options for those who are looking for less of a blowout.

I’m going to a wedding in Kenilworth this weekend so please bear with me on the cooking front – I’m looking forward to getting back onto the recipe-testing bandwagon soon.

 

Kerala–style fish curry • South Indian-style green beans

A first for Curryclub this week in the shape of a fishy supper… My two best friends from school came over for dinner and a catch-up this Saturday (and to watch Romeo and Juliet – no shame there). These lovely ladies gave me a big bag of spices and other curry delights for my birthday this year so I wanted to treat them to a nice dinner without spending too much time in the kitchen.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Kerala-style fish curry recipe was ideal – you can make it with almost any fish (from hake to salmon or mackerel) and it doesn’t need too much fussing over. I struck lucky at our local fishmonger, Harry’s (http://tinyurl.com/p5bhv25), where I managed to barter down a substantial monkfish tail to only £8 – plenty to feed three people. The green bean accompaniment was great too, despite my initial reservations about them tasting a bit bland, and the recipe was very quick to make.

Here’s the fish curry recipe in brief, with my suggested alterations. Serves 2–4 people:

• Buy 550g  fish (with skin) cut into 7cm segments. Spread pieces out and sprinkle with salt.
• Fry 65g sliced shallots in olive oil till brown.
• Add 1 tsp grated ginger and 2 crushed garlic cloves and fry for 1 minute.
• Add 250ml water, 1/2tsp tumeric, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or add as you’d prefer – I foud 1/2tsp too hot), 1/2tsp paprika, lots of black pepper, the juice of a lemon and lots of black pepper.
• Simmer for 5 minutes, then add half a can of coconut milk and simmer again.
• Add fish pieces back into the pan and simmer for 5–10 minutes, or until cooked.

Ariane also fried up some poppadom’s in vegetable oil for us to try– super tasty. Kids, make sure you do this using proper tongs rather than a fork as I’m sporting a bit of a nasty burn on my finger this week after my attempt. Apparently it’s possible to cook them in a microwave too but I’ve not been able to test drive this idea yet as I can’t fit one in my teensy kitchen.

Marks: 7/10. Quick, tasty and easy, but rather lacking in depth. I’d reduce the amount of cayenne pepper next time as it was a bit spicy, even for me. Romeo and Juliet: 10/10; we felt sad that the equivalent for twelve-year-olds today is Twilight…

(PS The last image – above – is Steeve, the fox who lives in the garden of the flat below mine. He clearly got wind of our curry as he’s been getting much braver recently and has been coming quite close to the flat),

Review of Cinnamon Soho coming soon…