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).

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…

The Queen of Sheba • Kentish Town

I’m just back from a lovely long weekend in Inverness, which was all about fresh seafood and whisky porridge, so I’m cheating with a Curryclub restaurant review this week. Last Tuesday we went for dinner at the Queen of Sheba in Kentish Town (www.thequeenofsheba.co.uk). It’s the only Ethiopian restaurant I’ve even been to, but so good I’ve never been temped to go elsewhere (except Ethiopia itself). You might not associate the Horn of Africa with great food but the curries here are incredible – richly spiced and stew-like, and not too hot either. The restaurant interior is cosy and womb-like, decorated with intriguing wooden artefacts and masks, and  infused with the tantalising scent of coffee ceremonies –  fresh coffee  beans and frankincense . The service is sometimes a little slow but the staff are so friendly and gentle this is soon forgiven. Your whole meal comes served on a moon-like injera flatbread made from teff flour, which arrives under an enormous, brightly-coloured cone of woven raffia; the texture of the injera is crumpet-like and it tastes taste slightly sour, but moreishly so. The curries are spooned out so that each person has a portion, and then they are scooped-up by hand using the injera and eaten sans-cutlery. All of the dishes on the menu here are delicious without exception, however, the derek tibs, shiro w’et and gomen are all standout options. Don’t forget a St George’s Beer to wash everything down.

The Bengal Lancer • Kentish Town

Bank holiday Monday found us at The Bengal Lancer in Kentish Town. The original inspiration for Kentishtowncurryclub this was only my second visit of the year as I’ve been cooking so much at home and I was surprised to see that the decor had changed slightly. The modern-art splash paintings have been replaced with old black-and-white portraits from India that immediately make the whole restaurant much cosier and more elegant. The service was as effusive and attentive as ever, without being overwhelming, and the curries were all top of their game, featuring fresh spices, natural colourings and a reassuring lack of oily puddles. The menu here boasts plenty of unusual options that you won’t find in other curry houses, including guste kabul (a tangy lamb and chickpea curry) and ghost hydrabadi (a creamy, mustardy leg of lamb). The standout dishes this visit were a lamb pasanda as rich and comforting as a hot bath and a good book, and the goru mangsho (diced beef curry), for it’s brilliant garum masala seasoning. I got chatting with the manager JJ on the way out and he told me that he has plans to publish a cookbook in the pipeline – happy days!

 

Marks: 8/10. Looking forward to a return visit.

Gratuitous snow picture

Camden on mute

It’s snowed heavily all day today – big, thick, dandruffy clumps of the stuff. I love the snow. It forces everyone to slow down – a collective exhalation for the city (with the exception of frazzled commuters). My road, which is usually a cacophany of screaming kids, cars, drunks and lorries, is so quiet that you could hear a mouse fart. Bliss.