Brick Lane Curry

I will start this with fact that I had a very bias view of Indian food. Coming from a household with little exposure to spicy foods as I grew up, I feared curry or other Indian treats that would lite my mouth on fire. But it’s London, the curry capital, that if I was going to try the exotic ingredients of India, that I would…  I had to experience a traditional meal first. Emily and I decided we would go out to Brick Lane for the real experience. Brick lane is a street in East London, in an area called Shoreditch, and it is famous for having endless curry houses. It’s known that as you step onto Brick Lane, men will beckon you into the shops with deals and promises of the most mind blowing Indian experience you have ever eaten. In the 20th century, Brick Lane became predominantly Bengalis. We started the meal off with papadum and a mix of chutneys and sauces, one that we still can’t pin the crazy mouth sensation we experienced. We then had a starter of tandoori chicken that was my favorite part of the night. It was a beautifully cooked piece of chicken that was marinated with a blend of yogurt and spices and baked in a clay oven, or a tandoori, that slow cooks it to perfection. We both were literally picked at every last bit. Along with the chicken came sev puree; a deep fried spring roll stuffed with a spicy minced meat and fresh coriander leaves. They were good, but couldn’t stand up to the tandoori chicken. We then each had our mains; Emily had chicken tikka masala, which was baked in deep charcoal oven in a mild creamy tomato based sauce, which also had perfect cooked meat. I had the lamb chana makhoni. It was lamb cooked with chickpeas and light spice and butter. It had the perfect flavoring of garlic and ginger and finished with almonds that gave it a sweet but delicious flavor. We also ordered plain rice and fresh garlic naan, which was great for soaking up the extra sauce left over. Overall we were both blown away but the meal. For 15 pounds we had a massive meal and beer on the house, which was the reason they got us there in the first place. We wanted dessert but their menu selection did not entice us, so we stopped at a bakery walking to the bus stop and had gulab jamun, which is made from milk that they boil until it forms milk solids, which they turninto dough. That dough is deep-fried and then soaked in light sugar syrup with different flavors delicately blended in like cardamom and rose water.

I needed to share with you the amazing sounds that came from out tandoori chicken