A Summer Dine in Holmfirth

Anwar Ali of Massala Lounge

You can’t talk about Holmfirth, in the beautiful Holme Valley in West Yorkshire without mentioning the Last of the Summer Wine. Most people remember, with affection, the longest running TV comedy show of all time that followed the adventures of three retired gentlemen who just couldn’t grow up. The series was the first sitcom to be taken out of the television studios and filmed entirely on location in Holmfirth. The town’s streets, cafes and surrounding scenery became an instant tourist magnet for millions of people all over the world.

So, a stroll around Holmfirth, or Little Hollywood as it’s known locally, is a bit like a trip through sitcom nostalgia. Of course there are signs of more recent glory – the yellow bikes, reminders of the town’s starring role in the Tour de France earlier this year, still cling to the stone walls. For dining options, however, it’s hard to get away from the ilk of Sid’s Café, Compo’s Fish and Chips, the Wrinkled Stocking Tea Rooms (shades of Nora Batty), or even the oddly named Toad and Tatie. Thankfully, for those looking for the perfect antidote to Last of the Summer Wine-iness, Massala Lounge on Huddersfield Road offers the suave, sophisticated and cosmopolitan (should that be Compopolitan?), alternative.

The immaculate menu commands you to Relax, Enjoy and Indulge – and really, it’s impossible to refuse, especially in the luxurious red leather sofas that beg you to recline in their midst. Through an arch to the spacious dining area, the colour theme continues with black high backed dining chairs, red table settings and wood decking floor. Moody down-lighting highlights three dimensional walls. Look out of the picture windows at the end of the restaurant, however, and you’re back in Holmfirth. The restaurant is on the second floor and the classic view is of stone-built houses perched perilously on top of the adjacent hill, grey tiled roofs, glimpses of the distant Pennines – look down below and you can almost see the three old reprobates - Foggy, Compo and Clegg, ambling down the street…

We quickly turned back to the menu and the delights of Massala Lounge!

It was, in fact, the Last of the Summer Wine that first brought 33-year-old Anwar Ali, to Holmfirth.  He and all his family live in Bradford and, although the main family business is in property letting, they were looking for a restaurant for Anwar and his four brothers to run. Having watched the programme on TV, Anwar visited the town out of curiosity and instantly fell in love with the place.

“I decided to take a stroll round the town to see what it was all about,” he explained. “It was really, really busy. I was trying to find a place to eat and I couldn’t find any. All the other Indian restaurants were mainly down back streets, so there wasn’t really anywhere to go.”

Seeing the potential for a commercial enterprise, Anwar did some research and came up with the two-storeyed premises on Huddersfield Road. “I realised there’s a good population round here – most people are bankers or business owners, hence, more affluent, so I knew the restaurant needed to be stylish and contemporary.”

The former nightclub offered an ideal location and, with Anwar masterminding the design, the family carried out most of the refurbishment work themselves.

Massala Lounge opened in August 2009 and was a success from day one. Now, with a five year anniversary coming up the restaurant is firmly established at the heart of the Holmfirth community.

The five brothers have a demanding lifestyle. Anwar, who is father to a seven-month-old son, has worked as a Quantity Surveyor for 12 years. His brothers have equally high profile roles in accountancy and Trading Standards. How do they cope with having two full time jobs each, surely there aren’t enough hours in the day?

“We don’t look at it as a job, it’s more like a family get together than anything else,” explains Anwar. “There’s also enough of us in the family to share the work between us. You do what you have to do and when you think about it, it’s only a few hours from 5.30pm to 10pm or 11pm and although we all live in Bradford, it’s just 18 miles in distance. The restaurant is not our bread and butter but it’s our passion.”

“We’re lucky to have no staffing issues. We’ve had the same people working for us as from day one – even the weekend and kitchen staff; no-one has changed at all.”

At this point Anwar breaks off to bid good bye to a customer who leaves, thanking him profusely for the delicious food.

There certainly is an atmosphere about the place with happy and friendly waiting staff who aren’t afraid to have a banter with diners. Anwar agrees that the Last of the Summer Wine has a lasting influence and brings in many tourists but they don’t make up the majority of patrons.

“We get a lot of Canadians – it must have been a very popular show there, and a lot of Australians. But most of our customers we know by first name. We have one guy - a regular - from Amsterdam who works in Manchester every three months who always calls in and we also have clients who come from as far afield as Liverpool. It’s just that special bond that we try and cultivate. Once the customer knows you it’s nice and relaxed; the customer feels at home.”

The menu is based on traditional food from Bangladesh with a modern twist and influences from Mughlai cuisine. Starters and mains include an exotic sea food selection. The Machlee Pakora: golden crispy parcels containing spicy cod, proved delicious, as was the locally reared lamb Sonargaw served with homemade tamarind sauce.

Many ingredients are, in fact, sourced from customers and Anwar takes advantage of the plethora of farms within the area to purchase fresh vegetables, milk and chicken. Signatures offered an exciting selection of dishes including Hash Jamdhani: tender pieces of duck

breast in a chilli, garlic and tomato sauce layered with cauliflower. The Rangamati Chorchory: lamb or chicken cooked with spinach, is the restaurant’s best seller while the Sylheti Jal Jool offers a rustic taste of eastern Bangladesh. 

Anwar works with his brother Amruj Ali who is the head chef, to find new dishes: “We don’t have too many curries on the menu; we just select one or two. I have customer feedback cards so I know exactly what the customer wants and at the end of the year I’ll change the menu accordingly. I’m not a cook myself but I do know how a curry should be cooked. I come up with the ideas and then we experiment and test – a dish has to be appetising for the eyes before you taste it.”

Planned innovations to the menu this year include the addition of lobster and venison. Like the menu the wine list is also carefully selected with the Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Moët and Chandon reflecting the affluence of the area.

Although the food is undeniably outstanding (with rave reviews on Trip Advisor, the restaurant has a certificate of excellence), Massala Lounge isn’t just about the cuisine. Anwar and his brothers have made sure that the venue has become part of the local community by sponsoring sports teams, arts festivals or cultural events such as Yorkshire Day. As sponsors of the Holme Valley Scouts Mountain Bike Challenge, the restaurant annually supplies up to 750 people with free food and drinks.

Mindful that the premises were formerly a nightclub which contributed to the social life of the area, Massala Lounge also hosts special nights, get-togethers and charity fundraisers. The floor above the 80-seat restaurant still has a function room with soundproofing, a stage suitable for a band or DJ which has been the venue for many successful events including 80’s discos and Reggae nights. Anwar appreciates that the place holds poignant memories for members of the community, so it’s important to keep it as a social hub where people can meet up, relive memories and generally have a good time.

But the brothers don’t leave it there: Massala Lounge has also hosted the Holmfirth Film Festival and shows movies on a regular basis. “We generally talk to customers and see what films they want for next year and then get them in,” says Anwar. “Between May 23^rd and end of June this year, we actually showed 14 movies!”

Long before the Last of the Summer Wine, Holmfirth was the centre for the pioneering film makers Bamforth & Co Ltd and in the early 1900s the West Yorkshire film industry was even thought to surpass that of Hollywood. It’s good to see Anwar keeping the history of the place alive. And if Foggy, Compo and Clegg were still around to see it, they would have been proud.

Massala Lounge, 57-59 Huddersfield Road, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire

Tel: 01484 681 172/ 01484 680 742 info@massalalounge.com

Compo, Foggy and Clegg from Last of the Summer Wine

How to create the perfect wine list to go with curry

Photos by Iona Renfrew

House of Townend Wine Merchants, Melton, East Yorkshire

Beers and lagers are often seen as the ideal tipple to accompany curries and spicy food but a good wine list can help restaurants maximise profits.  Stuart Shenton, Manager at House of Townend Wine Merchants in Melton, uncorks the secret of creating the perfect wine list and recommends six wines that go well with curry …

Stuart Shenton, Manager , House of Townend Wine Merchants

ZR: Stuart, how important is an effective wine list in a restaurant?

SS: In my opinion the wine list is incredibly important. A quality restaurant spends time creating a fantastic menu, good ingredients and innovative cooking styles, so I don’t understand why you would want to ruin it by having a boring, bog standard wine list. Also, customers are drinking better wine now; you tend to have a lot more wine savvy people out there and putting together a good quality wine list can really add value.

What’s the optimum number of wines for a restaurant wine list?

I don’t think there’s a blueprint as to number – it all depends on the size and style of restaurant. If you have a Michelin star type venue, you’re probably going to want a pretty extensive list with a sommelier who can talk people through the wines. However, if you’re a small, 20-cover, quick in-and- out restaurant, you may want something a bit easier. I would say a standard quality restaurant with 40 seats would be looking at a 20-40 bin wine list. In my experience people like to be guided so it helps to narrow down choice and utilise your wine list as much as possible.

How would you advise restaurants to increase their GDP on wine sales?

The majority of restaurants supply a GDP percentage and, whilst that works well with your house wines, it doesn’t work so well for wines higher up the list. For example, if you buy your house wine at £4 ex VAT per bottle, most restaurants would look at making a 65% GP margin. That means you’d be selling it for £13.95 per bottle which isn’t unreasonable for a good quality wine. But, if you apply the same 65% per cent margin to classic wines, like a Chablis or Sancerre, you’d be spending about £9-£10 for a bottle and charging customers £35 – that sounds an awful lot! My advice would be to charge the customer around £23 for such wines which would be good value for them and still profitable for you. It’s a common perception that by having a blanket per cent margin, you’re going to make loads of money but if you’re not selling it, you’re not making anything either.

One thing that definitely could be done is to offer more wine by the glass. Most restaurants serve glasses of house wine or maybe a well known grape variety, but one way to encourage customers to try new wines, would be to use a special cork which takes the air out of the bottle and reseals it. This enables you to offer around 20 wines by the glass. You can get up to 10 to 15 days out of the bottle without losing any of the quality – if it takes that long to finish the bottle!

How can restaurateurs balance their food with wine?

Good food can enhance a great wine and a good wine can enhance great food. If you spend time creating a quality and diverse menu, the wine list should reflect the different styles of dishes available. For example, if your restaurant is well known for a particular style of cooking or signature dish, make sure your wine list mentions a wine that works really well with that dish.

Food and wine matching is a fine art, but at the end of the day, if a customer loves a big Australian Chardonnay, they’re going to enjoy it no matter what. Nevertheless, if you have signature dishes on your menu, I would definitely recommend approaching customers with: “Why not try this fresh, crispy white that goes perfectly with such and such a dish ...?”

How important is it to train your staff about wine?

Staff are your best asset when it comes to getting more from your customers. Find out what type of training is available from your wine merchant. Training and tasting programmes give staff that background and knowledge so that if a customer asks for advice, they feel confident enough to recommend a certain wine.

In terms of external training, there is the Wine & Spirits Education Trust examination which can be taken at colleges. This is the recognised qualification of the wine trade and some restaurateurs fund staff to go through this at Intermediate or Advanced level.

How would you balance your wine list between old favourites and more esoteric varieties?

Most people think in terms of the bigger brands like Echo Falls, Gallo etc. You won’t get these from a good, reputable wine merchant, but the choice of wine list comes down to striking a balance between recognisable grapes and more esoteric choices that add interest.

For any new restaurant wanting 10 reds and 10 whites on their list, there are some classic elements I could pinpoint straight away. For example, you’re going to need a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc; a Pinot Grigio; a Chablis or a Sancerre. These will cover your bases but that’s when you can afford to go on and add something a little bit more unusual. You need to balance wine not just in terms of country, but with styles so that you have something dry, something a bit sweeter, bone dry or medium. Then, if you get your staff trained up, you can add slightly more esoteric wines so they can recommend something at a slightly higher price according to the customer’s preferences.

How can layout and design of the list help?

This is an area where you can definitely improve your wine list by giving it a more interesting appearance. In a more traditional approach everything is laid out in terms of bin numbers. That often leads customers to opt for the House wines because there isn’t enough info or description. A standard list means people tend to go for the house wine because they’re not being challenged.

One thing that really works well is to split the list into styles rather than countries so that, if people come in saying they like crisp, fruity wines or big full flavoured reds that will be reflected in your choice of wines. The brands won’t be available in the high street so people won’t recognise them but what they will recognise is grape variety and style. So, if they usually like a Pinot Grigio and further up the list you’ve got a Verdicchio with similar qualities, you’ve got a fair chance of trading your customer up.

Obviously make sure you have a nice looking wine list – get a professional to design it, taking into account the style and character of your restaurant i.e; trendy or traditional. Make sure you have got tasting notes; not huge, in-depth descriptions but may be two or three lines that reflect the personality of the wine. It’s important to avoid certain terms like ‘acidity’ or ‘tannin’ – replace them with words like crisp, fresh, grassy or warming, right and fruity. A good quality wine merchant is always worth their salt just to explain how and why a wine list can be put together.

Finally, which goes best with Indian food – wine or beer?

Beer and lager go well with Indian food but it all depends on the restaurant or occasion. Beer is great in certain situations but in my opinion, for a special occasion in a high quality establishment, a bottle of wine takes a meal to an entirely different level.

Stuart’s recommendations for six wines that work with curry? (PRICES MAY VARY)

1.    Torrontes 2011, Zohar de Susana Balbo House of Townend price (HOT) £8.35 ex VAT,. Classic and fragrant grape variety from Argentina. The aromatics work really well with food that has spice and heat.

2.   Basa 2011, Rueda,  (HOT price) £6.99 ex VAT  A really good Spanish wine from an area in Rueda. Nice and light, fresh and crisp but also quite elegant. It works really well with fish. Would probably be a good match for less contemporary style meals, for example, a buttery style dish.

3.    Reisling 2008 (HOT price) £7.58 ex VAT – A wine from Clare Valley in South Australia which has some of the best Reisling in the New World. Again you get lovely aromatics, a bit of lime and lemon but a little drier with a more refreshing finish.

4.   Gaba do Xil 2009, Valdeorras (HOT price) £7.72 ex VAT Quite an unusual wine from northern Spain. The grape variety is Mencia. It’s a really aromatic and fragrant red but has a little more weight and body than a Beaujolais. Delicious with any type of spice.

5.   Côtes du Rhône ‘Caprices’ 2010 (HOT price) £7.36 ex VAT - Really classic, popular wine. Suitable for anyone looking for a more traditional style of wine to go with the food, Cotes du Rhone has all-round appeal because it has weight and body but is also quite soft and subtle.

6.    ‘Pitch Fork’ Shiraz 2010 (HOT price )£6.58 ex VAT –  A bit of an old favourite at House of Townend - a really good quality, big, bold and rich flavoured Shiraz that works well with a meaty dish or lamb kebabs .

http://www.houseoftownend.com

Recipe from Dine Bangla in Beverley

We managed to persuade Chef Mahboob Rahman of Dine Bangla in Beverley, East Yorkshire to share one of his secret recipes with us – it’s one of the restaurant's most popular dishes. 

SHAM’S SPECIAL

Dine Bangla Restaurant, 9-10 Wednesday Market, Beverley, East Yorkshire  HU17 0DG

Tandoori chicken cooked off the bone in finely chopped onions, capsicum, garlic, ginger, tomato and cinnamon. Moist and well flavoured to please the most delicate of palates.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

4 chicken legs

1tsp tamarind paste

1tsp ginger/garlic

1tsp coriander

1tsp cumin

Strand of Saffron

1tsp mixed garam masala powder

1tsp paprika

Salt to taste

500g tub of yoghurt

Mix ingredients together.  Add chicken legs and leave in fridge overnight to marinate.

Ingredients for sauce:

4 medium sized onions, thinly sliced.

1 medium onion finely sliced and chopped.

2 tsp garlic and ginger (blended together to make a paste)

4 bay leaves

4 pieces cinnamon stick

8 cloves garlic

8 cardamoms

1 tbsp Madras curry powder (Dine Bangla use their own special mix)

To garnish:

1 large red onion

1 large green capsicum

Fresh coriander

Method:

• Roast marinaded chicken in the oven for 40 minutes at 220° C/gas mark 7 (do not cover with foil).

• Deep fry the four thinly sliced onions in 2 tbsp vegetable oil until golden brown. Remove from heat and leave aside.

• After chicken is cooked, allow to cool and then strip chicken meat off bone.

• Slowly stir fry garlic/ginger, garlic cloves and onion together. Add bay leaf.

• Add cinnamon stick, cardamoms and stir.

• Add tomato puree, then Madras curry powder. Season with salt to taste.

• Add pre-fried onions.

• Stir until well mixed, then add Methi (fenugreek) and chicken meat.

• Bring up to temperature, then simmer for a couple of minutes.

• Add enough hot water to cover meat.

• Simmer but do not allow to become too dry (around five minutes).

• Garnish with fresh coriander, red onion and capsicum and serve with pillau rice.

• 

Curry Life Chefs Turn up the Heat in Hyderabad

 Once again Curry Life chefs have been over to India to showcase UK curry and food at the 10-day Taste of Britain Curry Festival. This year the bi-annual event was held in scorching Hyderabad at The Park Hyatt Hotel where the restaurant and ball room were redolent with aromas of British curries and even, at times, good old Lancashire Hot Pot and Sunday Roast.

The team of top chefs from the UK included Partha Mittra, Consultant Chef for Curry Life; Allam Shah Ullah of Cutlers Spice in Sheffield; Abul Monsur of Taj Cuisine in Chatham; Abdus Shahid from Valley Connection in Bury St Edmonds; Altaf Hussain of Yuva Fine Fusion in Royston, and Anwar Hussain of Navaa Fine Fusion, Sudbury. They were joined by Dominic Chapman Michelin star chef who served up a ‘Best of British’ menu while his fellow chefs, naturally, focused on British curry.

The festival even had the support of Prime Minister David Cameron who sent a letter to the festival organisers, saying how delighted he was to see the unique British brand of Asian cuisine being sought in the countries from where it originally came. Home Secretary Theresa May and MPs including Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, also came on board to offer their best wishes.

As usual, the event caught the attention of the Indian and British press. At the media lunch, journalists, distinguished guests and Hyderabadi food aficionados had their appetites well and truly whetted by the mouth-watering menu of 80 dishes prepared by the chefs. In addition to the ubiquitous Chicken Tikka Masala, the spread included:  Dhania Salmon Kebabs, Oregano Chicken Tikka, Shatkora Gosht, Sunehri Pulao  and Dal a la Kent with other British influenced fusion dishes such as Lamb Rani Chops, Chicken Roulade and Cocktail Paneer Kebabs. Desserts included Gulab Jamun and Ras Malai, while Dominic’s traditional British fare served up with Michelin flair, also showcased the often overlooked British desserts such as Eton Mess and Bread and Butter pudding.

“The meat dishes stand out, redolent with their just-perfect-consistency-of curry, spicy and creamy gravies,” raved the correspondent from The Times of India Swati Sucharita, although she admitted she found the chicken tikka masala “a tad sweet”, besides being “creamily delectable”. The Dal a la Kent, (speciality of chef Abul Monsur) made with mixed lentils was described as “the stuff soul food is made of, deeply fragrant with the ghee jeera-red chillies tempering and packed with the goodness of mixed lentils”. Spicy vegetable and cheese kebabs were likened to the “quintessential Vegetable Chop that delights from the streets of Kolkata, spiked with some cheese filling.”

But the festival also provided the opportunity for an interchange of ideas. Hyderabad is renowned for its biryani, a classic dish of the Mughal Nizams which often contains goat meat.  It is made either with raw, marinated ingredients sealed and cooked by the slow dum cooking process (Kachi), or with the meat and rice cooked separately and then layered (Pakhi).   Chefs and organisers were keen to try out the dish on its home ground and learn from the Hyatt culinary team. “Last year when we did the festival in Kolkata our chefs picked up a lot of fish and dessert dishes, so there is a lot of incorporating Indian regional cuisines that we will do in terms of takeaways from the festival,” said Syed Belal Ahmed. “No doubt, this year, the chefs will be hoping to get some first hand tips on how to prepare the authentic version of Hyderabad biryani.”

Restaurateur Amin Ali of the award-winning Red Fort in London, who attended the festival described how many years ago, he introduced the dish in his fine dining restaurant: “We had come to Hyderabad as early as the ‘90s and took back with us Hyderabadi chefs from the Nizam’s Club and Taj Krishna, so you could get authentic Hyderabadi Biryasni and Mirchi ka Salan at our restaurant in Soho,” he told reporters.

Syed Belal Ahmed, explained some of the differences between curries adapted to British tastes and home grown Indian dishes: “The curries enjoyed in India are no longer quite the same as the ones in Britain,” he said. “Improvisation has taken place and British herbs like rosemary, thyme, oregano are common and the dishes are spiced down. So the chicken tikka masala which you would be served in London may be creamy and smooth. Dishes also use less oil and healthier than their Indian counterparts.”

It wasn’t all work for the chefs however – towards the end of the visit they were able to take a well earned break to see some of the sights of Hyderabad including the Ramoji Film Studio before they headed back home with plenty of food for thought.

The main sponsor of the event was Cobra Beer whose CEO Lord Karan Bilimoria also hails from Hyderabad. Other sponsors included Ellwoods, Jaguar, Curries Online, Annecto UK, Chivas, Goldstar Chefs, Pasco and Pegasus Textiles.  

The festival was inaugurated by Deputy British High Commissioner to Hyderabad, Mr Andrew McAllister.

Goan King Prawns

Recipe from Mohammed Haque (Jay) of Roochi Restaurant in Forest Row

King prawns in shell, cooked in fresh spring onions, green chillies and strong aromatic spice to bring out the sizzling exotic taste of olive oil.

Ingredients:

12-15 king prawns

2 tbsp lemon juice

1½ tbsp turmeric

Salt

20 dried chillies

Fresh coconut grated

2 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 piece ginger (2.5cm peeled)

2 tbsp olive oil

Bunch spring onions, sliced

4 fresh green chillies, cut lengthways

1 tomato, chopped

Tbsp tamarind paste

Method:

• Place the prawns in a dish.  Add lemon juice, half a tbsp turmeric and salt. Leave to marinate.

• Place dried red chillies, garlic, coconut, coriander seeds, mustard seed, remaining turmeric, cumin seeds and ginger in a blender or food processor, add a little water and process to a smooth paste.

• Heat the olive oil in large, heavy based frying pan. Add spring onions and stir-fry for around four minutes until light brown.

• Add green chillies and dried chilli paste mixing well and cook over a low heat, stirring often for 20 minutes.

• Add marinated prawns and simmer until cooked through.

• Add tomato and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

• Add tbsp of tamarind paste and check taste, adjust seasoning if necessary and serve with steamed rice.

Roochi: a recipe for success

Forest Row is bustling on a summery(ish) Saturday evening. With a slight stretch of imagination you could be in Italy; people greeting each other out on the streets, promenading past the town’s restaurants and historic pubs of which there are more than a fair share. 

All venues look well patronised but none more so than Roochi, a smart Indian restaurant overlooking the street.  We joined the steady stream of customers to be welcomed by friendly waiter Ali who gives us a grandstand seat from where we can survey the restaurant’s comings and goings.  

The atmosphere is relaxed and jovial; the majority of customers are obviously regulars who know and like the staff; many are greeted by first name. No wonder, as the 31-year-old owner, Mohammed Haque Jay, is an outgoing and charming chap who has built up strong relationships with his diners. But it hasn’t been an easy route into the hearts and stomachs of the good people of Forest Row.  Jay originally hails from the north and he tells us it’s taken him at least five years to be accepted as a local.

So how did a Bradford born-and-bred lad end up in a posh town in East Sussex?

According to Jay, his parents sent him off down south to ‘find himself’ after he went through a bit of a wild patch as a young lad. “They basically said go away and do whatever you want to do,” he says with a cheeky smile. Fortunately, although Jay didn’t come from a catering background (his father worked as a mechanic), he had a cousin in the restaurant trade and decided this was where he wanted to seek his fortune. Working in a restaurant in nearby Hawley he started out at the back of house, but with his sparkling personality, wit and ready repartee, it wasn’t long before he moved to take front stage. The experience taught him a lot about the restaurant profession. “Basically I thought to myself, if this business is successful, run in this way, I’m sure I could do a lot better.”

Fourteen years later Jay has much more successful eateries in Reigate, Lingfield, Hawley and, of course, Forest Row. It seems like quite an achievement for a young man but beneath Jay’s happy go lucky exterior there lies a shrewd business mind and the northern ‘nouse’ to seize and make the most of an opportunity. His success is well (and hard) earned.

“The main thing to start with is the place, location and how you set up the business,”Jay says. “After that it’s building up a reputation. We’ve got to a stage where we know everyone and everyone knows us, but we have to live up to the high standards we have set - here, people don’t give you a second chance.  If the food was very good but the service poor, people would never forgive you.”

Skilfully tending to his customers, in between chatting to us, Jay tells us how he is a firm believer in the concept of “first in, last out”. Working up to 15 to 16 hours a day, he travels to the wholesalers every night to pick up his next day supply of food and vegetables. Other produce is sourced even locally. Fish comes from the excellent fishmongers a few doors down whilst the farm shops nearby provide a trusty and traceable source of meat.  Jay believes that to get the best out of his products, he needs to be in control of them and his hands-on approach extends to the kitchen. “Our food and the preparation all comes from me,” he admits. “I teach staff to do things in a certain way but more skilled tasks, like the spice blending and marinating always comes from me so that the quality, style and consistency of food is always the same.”

Out of all Jay’s restaurants, Roochi is Jay's “baby”. Inside the venue is like an Aladdin’s cave and deceivingly spacious.  Cunningly divided into private and group dining areas with interesting views onto the street, a curved corridor leads around the central bar area which also serves as a stylish reception. Deep burgundy carpets, chocolate and mahogany walls contrast with the pristine white tablecloths. Tropical fish swim happily in tanks with the dual purpose of providing a living room divider and eye catching display.

For starters we have succulent duck kebab and calamari, glistening yellow peppers, crisp lightly dressed salad and freshly-made, zingy chutneys. Our main course choice is easy – seafood is a great speciality in the restaurant (Jay hopes to open a fish restaurant one day), and we have no hesitation in ordering the Seafood Moilee – a bouillabaisse of Kerala prawns, king prawns, mussels mixed in coconut milk to create a silky broth flavoured with turmeric and curry leaves, and gigantic Goan King Prawns with shell, cooked in spring onions, green chillies and strongly flavoured spices. When the dishes arrive our taste buds are instantly rewarded with fresh and salty overtones of sea (fortunately not sand), which is blissfully enhanced, not drowned, by the creamy sauce.

Jay describes the food at Roochi as “authentic with a modern twist.” Besides the fish option, other choices range from a Duck Narangi – spicy duck breast pan fried and simmered in Madeira sauce cooked with juicy oranges and mushrooms, or tender lamb shank, braised and marinated in a blend of spices. These are sophisticated dishes but the ‘traditional’ Kormas, Madras and Vindaloo are also on the menu, incredibly well priced at just %.25 for a simple chicken or lamb curry. The costliest dish on the menu is the King Prawn Shashlik and even that is a modest £11.95.

The wine list is one of the most interesting I’ve seen in any Indian restaurant with vintages and Grand Crus from France, Australia, South Africa, Argentina and India. Jay tells us his supplier carefully monitors and changes the list regularly to accommodate the best sellers.

Owning the place has given Jay the freedom to “do his own thing” and this extends to his policy towards staff. With five front-of-house employees and a further five in the kitchen, Roochi has a close knit team. To ensure perfect service he holds staff meetings every week where he interacts, pinpoints mistakes and gets feedback from colleagues. Recruitment is not a problem he says; he works with the local Job Centre or gets staff online. Employees are trained up and according to where they fit in best are sometimes asked to move around as Jay also provides some accommodation. Motivation is encouraged: “We pick up talented people and maybe give them the opportunity to be chef; then they have an investment in the place and want to maintain the quality,” Jay says.

Roochi is a restaurant that’s on the way up and it’s all down to Jay. The exceptional cuisine goes without saying but our overall impression is of a very professionally run business that has achieved an ideal balance of happy staff and happy customers. Jay has moved on a long way from his Bradford days and will, no doubt, go much further. His parents are now rightly proud of their son’s success. “In fact my dad still can’t believe it,” he says with a smile.

Roochi, 9 Hartfield Road, Forest Row  RH18 5DN Tel: 01342 825 251

Unusual ingredients in curry: Shatkora

The first time I came across shatkora was in India a few years ago. We were leaving for the airport one of the hotel chefs came up to us and proudly presented us with a a bag of green and knobbly looking fruit as a gift. He explained shatkora was hard to find in the UK and much more expensive. We put the bag into our suitcase but, sadly, had to ditch it later as our luggage was too heavy. Since then, shatkora has become much easier to find in the UK and features in many dishes in Indian restaurants. From the outside it certainly is not an object of beauty but, as far as flavours go, the shatkora is a veritable swan of the culinary world. A cross between grapefruit, lime and lemon, it adds a tanginess and exotic taste to curry dishes and lifts them into the sublime.

  

Otherwise known as the citrus macroptera or ‘wild orange’, the fruit is about is 6-7cm in diameter and oval in shape with pointed ends. The variant grown in Bangladesh is called annamensis and is commonly used in the area of Sylhet. It grows on thorny trees which can reach 5m in height. Although it looks and smells more like a lime, its juice is sour and bitter and tastes more like that of a grapefruit. The pith is thick and dry and the outer skin becomes yellow when the fruit is ripe.

Delicious Shatkora curry cooked by Chef Mahbub Rahman
of Dine Bangla  in Beverley.

Preparation of the fruit is tricky and requires some culinary skill. Perhaps the easiest way is to cut the shatkora in half lengthways and then cut each half into three, also along the length. Then the main fruit can be pared away from the peel and outer pith with a sharp knife.

Chefs recommend the skin is pre cooked to soften the texture. In Bangladesh the rind is eaten as a vegetable and the pulp is usually discarded because of its bitter taste. The thick rind is cut into small pieces and cooked in beef mutton, fish curries and stews whilst the fruit is often used in shatkora pickles.

Curries cooked with shatkora are now becoming more and more popular in Bangladeshi and Indian restaurants in the UK.  The fruit can now be bought in many Asian food stores that serve the Indian and Bangladeshi community. It’s also available in frozen form.

Shatkora’s beneficial values don’t stop there – as a citrus fruit, rich in Vitamin C in India and Bangladesh, it has long been known for its medicinal value. It’s very strong in antioxidants and is reputed to be a sure cure for colds and flu when cooked in curry.

Recipe for Aromatic Venison Curry with Shatkora

from The Kennington Tandoori

Haunch of roast venison slow cooked to melting tenderness with tangy citrus shatkora in a deliciously rich, juicy sauce. 

Serves 6

Preparation time: 20-30 minutes

Cooking time: approx 3 hours

Ingredients

• 3 tbs vegetable/olive oil

• Whole spices:
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 piece cinnamon bark (not quills)
• 4 green cardamom pods, bruised
• 1tsp salt

• 1 tbs garlic paste
• 1 tbs ginger paste
• 5 large shallots, very finely diced

• 1 ½ lb venison haunch, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 ½ inch chunks

• Approx 1 ½ pints water (see method)

• Ground powdered spices:
• 1 rounded tsp brown cumin powder
• 1 ½ rounded tsp coriander powder
• 1 rounded tsp chilli powder
• Scant ½ tsp turmeric powder

• 2 slices shatkora, flesh removed and cut into pieces

Method

• Warm the oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan or casserole dish.  Add the whole spices and gently heat, swirling in the oil to heat and release their flavours, adding a tsp of salt as you do so. Take care not to let the spices burn as this will make the dish taste bitter.

• Add the garlic and ginger pastes, continuing to stir on a gentle heat. (For small quantities crush garlic bulbs and grind to a paste, fresh ginger root can be grated with a fine microplane; for larger quantities it is easier to use a food processor.) Add the diced shallots, stir and cook on a medium heat until opaque and just starting to colour, but do not brown.

• Add the meat and brown all over in the spices and onion mix (approx 7-10 minutes), whilst enjoying the delicious aroma.

• Add sufficient water to fully cover the meat, stir thoroughly to deglaze the pan and to ensure nothing sticks or burns on the base. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for ½ an hour.

• Add the mixed spice powder and stir in to the curry, using a wooden spoon or spatula (not metal – to avoid cutting the meat). Cover and slow cook on a gentle bubble for 2 hours until the sauce has thickened and the meat is meltingly tender (longer if using a cheaper cut).

• About 15 minutes before the curry is ready, add shatkora and allow it to scent the dish.

The Kennington Tandoori, 313 Kennington Rd, London SE11 4QE