Shahi Tandoor

Chicken Tikka

'Twas a dark, cold, rainy evening. We were wet, hungry and just wanted to get indoors, get dinner and get home. It was one of those "Fine, we're sick of all the usual restaurants, so lets just try this new place" moments. I have to admit, I was skeptical when we stepped into Shahi Tandoor that first time, but I am glad that that's where we ended up because that first dinner was, and every meal since has been, pleasant and enjoyable.

The first surprise was that we were offered hot towels while we perused the menu. Next, I noticed that their mains were priced about $5 - $10 less than their counterparts at other Dunedin Indian restaurants. At this point, the cynic in me (who rules most of the time) was primed to expect the food to be mediocre because it (the cynic) cannot believe that you can effortlessly hit the trifecta, out of the blue like this, on George Street, in little ol' Dunedin. But hit it it did - the food was excellent, the prices were very, very reasonable and the waitstaff were friendly and helpful. The one thing that was distinctly different was the juiciness of the proteins in the curries. Now, this isn't usually a sticking point when it comes to curries since the amount of sauce more than compensates for any apparently overcooked meat or fish. The pieces of fish and meat in these curries, however, were immediately noticeably far tenderer, tastier and juicier than the protein contents of any other Indian curry that I've had in town. Clearly, I didn't know what I had been missing.

I've since recommended Shahi Tandoor to anyone who asked and returned with friends (only so I can take pictures of their food and taste more dishes in one sitting!) and they too have raved about the food. 

Vegetable Shahi Kebab

Mix Vegetarian Platter for Two: Liked the crispy, but still tender and moist, onion bhaji (with discernable chunks of onion). Don't remember much of the samosa, vegetable seekh kebab or potato pakoda, but the mint sauce was bland and watery.

Chicken Tikka: Beautifully charred, juicy chicken covered in a lovely, tasty, mild spice paste. Delicious and one of the best chicken tikkas I've had anywhere.

Vegetable Shahi Kebab: I think the others liked it, but it wasn't memorable for me.

Goan Fish Curry

Garlic Prawn: Great, complex, garlic flavoured curry. Incredibly tasty. Only gripe would be that if you are going to leave the tails on the prawns, they have to be larger prawns (at least two inches long). 

Goan Fish Curry: Excellent curry with lovely depth and beautifully cooked, tender juicy pieces of fish. 

Kadhai Paneer: Absolutely delicious. As good as the best kadhai curry that I've had. This was someone else's dish and as I am not always in the mood for cheese, I didn't try any paneer.

Lamb Vindaloo & Khadai Paneer

Lamb Vindaloo: I never liked vindaloo before, but this was exceptionally good and has changed my mind. Like the other aforementioned curries, this too had the complexity and depth that its counterparts have lacked.

Chicken Saagwala & Palak Paneer: Both were delicious, thick, beautifully flavoured spinach curries. The chicken was so perfectly cooked that there were still little streams of clear juice dribbling through the chicken as you bit or cut into them.

Chicken Patiala: A spinach based chicken curry wrapped in an omelette and covered in another tomato based (I think) curry. Very unusual but scrumptious nonetheless. It was such a large dish that I could barely finish it, even with help. This is probably unrelated but 'Patiala' sounds a little like 'Pattaya' which is the name of another Asian dish where fried rice is served wrapped in an omelette. 

Garlic Naan: Deliciously loaded with chopped garlic for that great, nutty, irresistible garlicky goodness. Perfect naan texture, weight and feel. This may sound silly but I love the texture and feeling of tearing a good piece of naan with my hands. Curiously, the surface and weight of a naan's reminds me of the feel of leather, but of course naan is soft, tender and good to eat and leather is not.

Chicken Saagwala

Shahi Tandoor
351 George Street
Dunedin 9016

Cauliflower & Egg Curry (Alison Holst's recipe - modified)

I have previously blogged about this curry here, but it is so good that I have to share the modified recipe. The photo isn't going to get any better, so I will just use the one from the previous post, even though I don't use peas anymore. It's such a great, satisfying vegetarian dish that I normally just eat it on its own, but of course it would go beautifully with a bed of fragrant basmati rice.

Ingredients

410g can seasoned/normal tomato puree
160ml can coconut cream
1/2 a large cauliflower - cut into florets
4 medium sized carrots - chopped into 2 cm thick wedges
1 onion - finely minced
5 cloves of garlic - finely minced
ginger powder
garam masala
2 OXO beef stock cubes
Brahim's curry powder
4 - 6 Eggs
salt
oil

Method

1. Hard-boil eggs.
2. Saute the onions in some oil (in a large pan or wok) until translucent and then add the garlic. Continue sauteing until fragrant.
3. Add 1-2 tablespoons of ginger powder and 2-3 tablespoons of curry powder (Sorry, I just chuck in whatever I feel like and taste it later on, so I can't give you exact measurements).
4. Continue sauteing for a few minutes until mixture darkens a little, then add can of seasoned tomato puree. Simmer for a few minutes.
5. Add garam masala and OXO beef stock cubes and mix well.
6. Add carrots. Simmer until semi tender.
7. Add coconut cream, mix well, then add cauliflower. Simmer until tender.
8. Taste and add salt (and/or curry powder and/or other spices) to your liking.
9. Add peeled, halved hard-boiled eggs, mix gently and let it rest for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
10. Garnish with roughly chopped coriander if you like.

PS: For those who are interested, the original recipe called for minced fresh ginger (which I swapped with ground ginger/ginger powder because the fresh ginger doesn't dissolve and leaves chewy bits in your curry), canned whole tomatoes (which I thought made it far too watery and I didn't care for the bits of resistant tomato skin - see if you can spot a piece in the photo) and peas (which I didn't think really added anything to the dish).

Indian Summer

Critic Issue 13 - Num Nums

Indian Summer is my new favourite Indian restaurant. The cool floor to ceiling glass windowed restaurant front gives the place a comfortable casual-chic feel, making it the kind of place that you could just pop in for quick, casual meal on a whim, but also where you would think going for a special occasion. The genuinely polite, friendly, exemplary service shown by Ram and his staff is especially noteworthy because while the service at most establishments is generally polite, I am rarely struck by service that feels instantly sincere and unpretentious.

While exploring the detailed menu, which has useful little symbols identifying items that are vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, gluten free and contain nuts (makes no difference to me, but I had never seen that before and thought it was pretty awesome), I noticed that they offered a few items that I have never seen on other menus, which makes Indian Summer a little more interesting. In the five minutes that I took to decide what to order, D sneakily inhaled the entire lovely, mango-y, yogurt-y, super thick ‘Mango Lassi’ drink that I ordered. Ram noticed the offence and brought me another ‘Mango Lassi’, but D downed that one too. We started with the ‘Vegetarian Platter’ which comprised of samosas, pakoras, onion bhajis and tandoori mushrooms. I particularly enjoyed the delectable, juicy, vermillion orange coloured tandoori mushrooms. The pakoras and onion bhajis were tasty, light, and crispy, unlike the sometimes thick and doughy varieties found elsewhere, and we really liked the delicious, refreshing, light mint chutney that accompanied the platter.

On Ram’s recommendation (I would never have ordered it otherwise because I have never liked any Kadai curry anywhere else), I had the ‘Kadai Prawns’ (prawns cooked with sautéed onions, capsicum, tomatoes, cumin & coriander seeds and finished with lemon juice & fresh coriander) which was amazing and unquestionably the best Kadai I have ever tasted. The sauce had a certain depth and flavour that I can’t put my finger on, the ingredients tasted fresh, the capsicums were firm and crunchy (the vegetables in curries are often mushy at other places) and the decent sized prawns were nice and springy. I could not get enough of it. We also savoured the beautiful, melt-in-your-mouth tender pieces of lamb, in the blissfully rich, smooth but not sickeningly creamy spinach sauce that was the ‘Saag Lamb’ (a spinach based sauce tempered with fenugreek, ginger and garlic). This too, was the best Saag that I have tasted. At that point, we were in a state of prandial euphoria. Our third curry was the tasty, chunky ‘Chana Masala’ which is made with whole, firm, chick peas cooked with onion, garlic, ginger and spices. The curries were served with rice and on top of that, we had some ‘Garlic Naan’. Needless to say, we were very happily satiated.

If the fantastic service, pleasant ambience and great food weren’t reasons enough to keep me going back, I also noticed that after the meal, I did not experience any curry reflux (as is often the unpleasant but inevitable consequence of eating curry) or lingering aftertaste. Indian Summer must be doing something different because for the first time ever, I walked away from having a curry filled meal with a clean feeling palate (and esophagus), not groaning or feeling sick from ‘too-much-curry-itis’. Absolutely brilliant!

Indian Summer

Carnegie Centre

110 Moray Place

Dunedin

Spiced Apple Cake

Yesterday I baked a Spiced Apple Cake myself! The only thing I didn't do myself was take it out of the oven. Luckily for me, Sab was keeping a watchful eye on me, while cooking dinner at the same time, and was prepared for my obtuseness when it comes to baking. The recipe is so simple (Thanks Michelle!) and pratically idiot-proof, yet I probably would have messed it up if not for Sab's consultation. It smelt really good and turned out okay but it wasn't as sweet as Michelle's because I skipped the topping (didn't have rolled oats). It should still be decent if warmed and served topped with vanilla ice cream.

For dinner we had a fish curry concoction. We actually had an extra bottle of Tandoori Palace Chicken Tikka Masala sauce left over from Monday that we'd accidentally opened but didn't need. The stuff needed to be used within 5 days of opening, so I thought it would be a good idea to use fish instead of meat, since we hardly ever cook fish over here. Since the fish over here is usually sold filleted and would crumble and disintegrate if thrown into a pot of curry and stirred about, I thought it would be better if we battered and fried the fish first, before putting it into the sauce. Even then, some of fish pieces still broke, but it would have been infinitely worse if we hadn't battered and fried them. We had to add quite a few things to the sauce before it was to our satisfaction, but in the end, it was pretty good. Sour, tangy, had a good kick and zero fishy taste or smell! Of course, as usual, I came up with the plan and Sab did all the work. Hey, I was baking remember?

And just because I was uploading pictures of food that we'd cooked, here's a picture (right) of the Lemongrass Chicken that we made some weeks back.

PS: I realise that the pictures all look 'orangey' but my camera doesn't take very good photos indoors and I had to take all of those without the flash, otherwise the pictures would be too hideous to share.