A few weeks after moving to London last year from India, I was craving north Indian food after binging on cheeses I’d never heard of, scones with rich clotted cream, sausages, sticky toffee pudding and everything I remembered from Enid Blyton’s books. My housemate suggested “an excellent Indian restaurant just down the road” from our house in Hither Green.
I was thrilled at the idea of digging my fingers, with a piece of folded buttery naan, into a bowl of rich butter chicken. However, this “Indian” restaurant didn’t have the iconic dish on their menu. Instead, I ordered a portion of fish tikka, which tasted like rubber soaked in diluted spicy sauce and it was drenched in so much artificial food colouring that my nails were stained for two days. After that, I vowed to never trust the recommendation of a non-Desi (South Asian) person as far as authentic Indian food was concerned.
Here’s a list of you-can’t-go-wrong eateries that goes beyond Chicken Tikka Masala, from an Indian foodie who’s been in London all of eight months.
1. Dishoom, Covent Garden: A tribute to the “Irani cafes” that have been popular in Bombay (now known as Mumbai) since the 1950s, Dishoom’s menu is all about food loved by Mumbaikars. Dishoom (not Dishroom), which is a sound used to describe punches in Bollywood action films (much like “pow”), is in fact an ode to the great city of Bombay. For appetisers, Keema Pau, which is spiced minced lamb with buttered homemade buns, is a specialty of Irani cafes and Dishoom does it quite well. Vegetarians will love the humble Vada Pau – a big, round potato fritter with sweet and spicy chutneys tucked in between a buttered and sliced homemade bun – that pretty much the entire city of Bombay runs on. For mains, my favourite is the Chicken Ruby; a dish made with tender, succulent pieces of boneless chicken in a velvety makhni sauce. It is very Desi and quite “curry” like. Eat with the melt-in-your-mouth Cheddar cheese Naan. For vegetarians, the Jackfruit Biryani, Mattar Paneer and Pau Bhaji are equally delicious options. The food at Dishoom is better than some of the best restaurants I’ve eaten at in India.
2. Fatt Pundit, Soho: I come from the east-Indian city of Calcutta, home to “Indo-Chinese cuisine”, a fusion fare that was developed about 250 years ago during the colonial period when Chinese refugees immigrated to India. Calcutta, geographically the closest large city to the border, was where Chinese refugees settled. Over the years, a marriage of the best of Indian and Chinese flavours led to one of the most popular cuisines in India. I was reluctant to try Fatt Pundit when a friend from Calcutta recommended it, because I was so certain I would be disappointed. I was proven wrong. The Kolkata Chilli Duck (Kolkata is the new name of Calcutta), tender strips of duck with chili in a typical Indio-Chinese soy sauce, is hands-down the best dish here. It took me right back to Tangra, Calcutta’s own Chinatown. Chicken Momo (much like dim sum or gyoza) with soy, garlic and spring onions, Bombay Chili Prawns with schezwan chili, peppers and celery, and Crackling Spinach with pomegranate, plum sauce, sweet yogurt and dates are other dishes for a warm belly.
3. Saravana Bhavan, Southall: Southall is where you’d normally go for North Indian and Punjabi food, but when I saw Saravana Bhavan, I forgot about everything else. If you’re craving simple South Indian food, Saravana Bhavan is infallible. Pick any of the dosas and you can’t go wrong. I normally eat the Plain Butter Dosa or the Aloo Masala Cheese Dosa depending on how hungry I am; the latter comes with mashed potatoes cooked in Indian spices. If you like your food hot, the Podi Idlis (or any of the Podi Dosas) are a great choice. Idlis are steamed cakes made of fermented rice batter (dosas are normally also made of this) and Podi is a (sometimes powdered) mix of lentils, spices like cumin and chili, and curry leaves. Idlis are then fried with this spicy mix and voila! You have a simple, comforting dish that’s full of flavour. Even those with a big appetite can be kept full the whole day with the South Indian Meal. It comes with rice, roti, sambar (a South Indian lentil preparation), rasam (a South Indian soup made with tamarind, tomatoes and pepper), kuzhambu (a Tamil-style watery broth/curry), two vegetable dishes, mor milagai (sundried chillies), appalam (a kind of papadum), yogurt and pickle.
4. Patri, Hammersmith: Patri’s menu is surprisingly inclusive in that they have a mix of Indian cuisines – from Awadhi to Malabari, they have something for everyone (Patri’ in Hindi means railway tracks). I went here with an Indian friend whose food recommendations I trust blindly. I was amazed to see The Secret Green Chicken Curry (chicken thighs in green chili, coriander and lots of Indian spices); a tribute to the Sindhi community who were forced to migrate to India from Pakistan during Partition in 1947. I come from the Sindhi community (as does the chef Puneet Wadhwani) and I can count the number of places I’ve eaten at that offer Sindhi food in India on one hand. The description on Patri’s menu reads: “Every Sindhi home has its own secret recipe which is passed down by mothers”. This dish, indeed, was quite close to my mother’s preparation, but also distinctly different. The Dhaba Chicken Curry, Nawabi Seekh Kebab (lamb skewers), and the Malabar Fish Curry (prepared in authentic Malbari flavours true to the tropical, southwest Indian style of cooking, this is a coconut milk-based dish with curry leaves, tamarind, coriander, chili and mustard seeds) are other favourites worth trying.
5. The Kati Roll Company, Soho: Kati rolls are a popular street food item from Calcutta. They are egg-wrapped buttery parathas, filled with skewer-grilled meat (usually, but sometimes with vegetables too,) topped with spicy chutneys, raw onion, chili and a nice squeeze of lime. It’s super cheap and flavoursome, which is why everyone in Calcutta loves it. Normally, a single roll is enough for a meal. The Kati Roll Company does an excellent job of reproducing it, which is unsurprising, given the founder Payal Saha hails from my city. Their rolls are juicy and satisfying. While The Kati Roll Company’s rolls are quite kosher, they are a little smaller than what you get on the streets of Calcutta. One roll, for this Calcutta girl, is not enough and I’m happy to eat two and make a meal out of it, but it can also be had as a snack before drinks or as a light lunch. Unda Chicken Roll is what I eat every single time (Unda is egg), but their Unda Shami Roll (egg and lamb) is equally delectable. For vegetarians, their Aloo Masala Roll (potato) and Chana Masala Roll (chick peas) are just as flavourful, if not more.
6. Raavi Kebab, Drummond Street: Named after the Raavi River that traverses both Pakistan and India, this unassuming restaurant offers what in India is called “North Indian cuisine”, which is essentially Punjabi cuisine. Since half of the Punjab state is in Pakistan and the other half in India, it is fair to say that Raavi Kebab embodies a very local, communal cuisine. The first time I went here was with five other people and we ended up over-ordering, but each of the dishes surpassed the other. My favourite was the Nihari – a slow-cooked lamb shank – and Haleem, a slow-cooked lamb stew. We also ordered the Chicken Karahi (a ginger-based curry that originated in Lahore), Lamb Biryani, Saag Gosht (a spinach-based lamb curry), and a simple yellow daal to cut the richness of the food. This was a very meaty affair; tender, succulent and finger-licking good.
7. Horn OK Please, Borough Market: This stall, rather than restaurant, in the hot food section of Borough Market, is another street food delight. “Horn OK Please” might sound like a strange name, but is familiar and funny to anyone from India. This popular phrase is painted, often artistically, behind trucks and buses in cities and highways. There are several theories for this, but one is that, if a driver wants to overtake, they can honk to alert the driver in front of them. At this eatery, the Dosa Chaat is a popular and fun choice, combining the traditional dosa with tangy, spice flavours of chaat (street food) to create a new yet familiar dish. The Samosa Chaat, a well-known combination in India, mixes samosa with spices associated with chaat, is another hit.
8. Gunpowder, Soho: The food here is not authentically Indian, but more on the “fusion/world cuisine” spectrum. However, Gunpowder brilliantly marries ingredients to create new dishes while ensuring the authentic Indian flavour is the hero of each dish. It has also refined some signature dishes found in India to give them a universal twist. The restaurant is named after gunpowder, a grainy condiment made from roasted lentil, sesame seeds, chili, cumin and coriander normally eaten with idli and dosa. The Bengali Beetroot Croquettes and the CPC Prawn Toast, a portion of small prawns in a creamy, non-spicy sauce served on toast (emulating the patent dish found on a particular social club’s menu in Calcutta), are pretty close to the original. One would never imagine that pork ribs – not an authentic Indian dish – could be eaten with the humble kachumbar (an Indian salad of cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and chilli), or that Bhuna Baingan (an everyday dish of roasted, spicy stir-fry aubergine) could be paired with kale and goat cheese salad. Most of India hasn’t even heard of kale or goat’s cheese. But at Gunpowder, these dishes make it unique. The Sea Bass Paturi Maach, Steamed Mustard Fish (a true Bengali specialty), Kerala Beef Peper Fry and Goan Styled Grilled Prawns can all be ordered together for a hint of coastal Indian food, albeit from very different coasts if India. Save a little space in your belly for the Old Monk Rum Bread & Butter Pudding; a bread pudding doused in Old Monk, an iconic Indian dark rum that almost every Indian living outside the country has a regular hankering for.
9. Roti, Chai, Soho: This modern Indian restaurant has two menus and therefore two rooms: ‘Street Kitchen’ and ‘Dining’. The first, as the name suggests, is inspired by street food across northern and western India. The second, which I haven’t tried yet, is more representative of tandoor grills and regional meat curries. The Papri Chaat here is for a true chaat lover who likes tangy flavours: crunchy wheat crisps topped with chickpeas, potato, sweet yoghurt and sweet-and-spicy chutneys. The soft, light and fluffy Buns are a very desi twist to the western burger. My favourite is the Bun Kebab which has a Welsh lamb patty cooked in north Indian and Pakistani flavours, sat in between a sliced bun. The Bun Chilli Chicken comes a close second, which comes with saucy, juicy pulled chicken and herb slaw. For mains, we (my three Pakistani friends and I) ordered the Old Delhi Chicken Biryani, which all four of us, from so-called “enemy states,” absolutely loved. The basmati rice was perfectly cooked, with flavours of cardamom, cloves and saffron prominent in every mouthful.
10. Central Gurdwara, Notting Hill: If you’ve never had a home-cooked Indian meal, I urge you to change that immediately. Find any gurdwara (Sikh temple) and drop in. You’ll get served steamed rice, roti, daal (lentil), perhaps even a dry sabzi (veggie dish) and a sweet, all for free! In Sikhism, ‘seva’, or service, is a huge part of the religious identity, which is why every gurdwara everywhere in the world serves ‘langar’ – free food – all day long, for anyone who comes in. If you have the time (and inclination), the Central Gurdwara serves a feast on Sundays (and a smaller feast on Wednesdays), after the ‘diwan’, or gathering, in the name of Guru Nanak. On one Sunday in May, I was served kali daal (black lentil), roti, gobi aloo (cauliflower-potato sabzi), rajma chaval (kidney bean curry and rice), apple-coriander chutney, salad, pickle and kheer (rice pudding). You can eat as much as you like, taking as many helpings as you want. If you feel like donating to the temple, go ahead. If not, that’s fine, too. Menus change weekly, but I can guarantee you’ll get a wholesome, fresh and healthy home-cooked Indian meal – without the millions of spices and overbearing richness of ghee you would find in restaurant dishes. At the end of your meal, don’t forget to go into the darbar (main hall) and ask for some karah prasad (a velvety wheat halva offered to God before devouring) and take some home for later if you have a sweet tooth. Remember to carry a scarf along – you won’t be allowed to enter if your head is not covered.