PROMOTION
A MEAL at Indian Tiffin Room is always full of unexpected pleasures. Sometimes the road less travelled is more scenic than the well-trodden route past bland kormas and the ubiquitous chicken tikka masala. Whatever you choose, at Indian Tiffin Room you can discover the real taste of India, its markets, streets and homes.
Friendly and intimate, a meal at ITR is almost like eating in someone's front room. A very popular front room. Even on a Sunday evening, the place was full so you'd be advised to book.
The menu seems complicated to the uninitiated, split up into sections which include: grazing or starters; grilled kebabs; tiffin meets ITR; Indo-Chinese; main meals. However, the charming staff helped us negotiate our way through the different dishes and we ended up with a selection of food which showcased the sensory delights of Indian street food.
Our starters were the mysore bonda, the beetroot shami kebab and the goat keema pav. The mysore bonda, miniature lentil fritters, were served with lentil sambar and coconut chutney. The batter was fresh, crisp and light, making each moreish mouthful a perfect introduction to the Indian Tiffin Room.
The beetroot shami kebab was a vibrantly-coloured delight, accompanied by a tamarind and date chutney with a sweet and sour tang and a mint chutney that managed to be both refreshing and fiery.
However, it was the goat keema pav which was the unanimous favourite. The rich, almost gamey flavour of the goat was complemented perfectly by the spices and was a more interesting alternative to the usual lamb keema. Mopped up with a bread bun, this is one street food item that should be served by the side of every road in Britain.
We also couldn’t resist the kinaesthetic joys of the puri grazing platter. Seizing each delicate, micro-thin pastry case, we poured in home-made paani (otherwise known as liquid bliss) and popped each puri in our mouths where they disintegrated, revealing fillings of potato, yoghurt and chutney. Wearing a white top, it was like Indian roulette – dicing with death, or at least hard-to-shift stains – but it was certainly both fun and memorable.
The onion ravi dosa was our choice for the tiffin meets ITR course. Although it was as light and delicate as lace, it put me in mind of a sub-continental Yorkshire pudding which can only be a good thing. With the delicious dips alongside, it was a tasty alternative to poppadums and might well be my new favourite foodstuff.
Main courses were equally tasty with paneer masala and rice for me and lamb dalcha and naan across the table. The lamb curry was aromatic with the slow-cooked lamb simply falling apart whilst the paneer was soft and creamy.
Why menus continue to translate paneer as cottage cheese, I will never know. ITR’s home-made paneer cubes which were bobbing around in a masala sauce had nothing in common with the calorie and taste-free bilge you find in supermarkets. Move over comté and camembert, there’s a new contender for the cheese crown.
The meal was finished off with rasmalai, divine balls of milk curd in a creamy saffron sauce and topped with a satisfying crunch of pistachio. After all that, I was finished off too but I didn’t regret a single mouthful.
To find out more and see the full menu, click here.
