Indian stunners: A chilli day in Manchester, succulent street food... and wait till you taste the goat butty! 

'It’s all a great big bloody lie,’ says my friend Mark as the sun floods through the plate-glass walls of Indian Tiffin Room, a gleaming new restaurant in the gleaming new First Street development of Manchester. 

‘The weather, that is. We Mancs tell the world it’s always raining up here. Keeps them all away, gives us the city to ourselves.’ 

He grins and takes another sip of beer. But downpour or not, it’s always a joy to be in Manchester. 

There’s no faffing around with silly plates or half-a***d ‘reimagining’ at the Indian Tiffin Room, just spot-on Indian street food with all the charm and grunt and soul of the real thing

There’s no faffing around with silly plates or half-a***d ‘reimagining’ at the Indian Tiffin Room, just spot-on Indian street food with all the charm and grunt and soul of the real thing

With its mighty Victorian buildings and the seemingly constant hammer and whirr of new construction, and that feeling that this is a place that really couldn’t give a jot about what the rest of the country thinks of it, this is less Britain’s ninth-largest city, rather Manchester, capital of the world.

Mark, better known as ‘Gordo’, and the man behind the hugely successful Manchester Confidential website, certainly knows his food. 

He told me about Hunan, that chilli-drenched Chinatown joint with the legendary Chairman Mao’s Red Braised Pork. 

And realising I hadn’t been back for a while, I ask him to take me somewhere suitably down, dirty and filthy. So he took me to the Long Legs Table Dancing Club.

Of course he didn’t. He took me to Indian Tiffin Room. 

Which is vast, modern, cavernous and airy, with a kitchen built into a bright blue shipping container, various neon light installations (rather handsome), a huge picture of Ganesha and random cycle, tuk-tuk and motorbike wheels hanging from the exposed ducts. 

It has been opened by two brothers who have another Indian place in Cheadle. 

A chilli chicken dish is  deep fried and sticky. Though it’s hard to taste the Indian spicing. Puddings are suitably syrupy. At night the menu is far broader, with endless curries and kebabs. I have no doubt they’ll be mighty

A chilli chicken dish is deep fried and sticky. Though it’s hard to taste the Indian spicing. Puddings are suitably syrupy. At night the menu is far broader, with endless curries and kebabs. I have no doubt they’ll be mighty

‘Took me six bleeding months to get in,’ moans Gordo. 

‘It’s always absolutely rammed.’ 

And from the first taste of their pani puri, I could see why. The shell is crisp and light, just light enough to hold the torrents of cool, tart, tamarind, mint and chilli-spiked water. 

It’s an Indian street-food classic, perfectly rendered.

Just like the dahi puri, more crisp cups, this time filled with softly spiced potato and lavished with cumin and herb-flecked yoghurt. 

And sev puri, where the same pastry is covered in a rich, thick, just-sweet slick of tamarind molasses. 

And bhel puri: puffed rice, pomegranate seeds and more pastry, this time crushed so the end result is lithe, crunchy and quietly magnificent. 

The Indian Tiffin Room is vast, modern, cavernous and airy, with various neon light installations, a huge picture of Ganesha and random cycle, tuk-tuk and motorbike wheels hanging from the exposed ducts

The Indian Tiffin Room is vast, modern, cavernous and airy, with various neon light installations, a huge picture of Ganesha and random cycle, tuk-tuk and motorbike wheels hanging from the exposed ducts

The chilli heat is ever present in each of these dishes but never allowed to overwhelm. And the spicing is intricate but blessedly assured. 

I’m told that the chefs have worked at Zaika and Gymkhana before settling up here. It shows.

Especially in the goat keema pav, or ‘goat butty’, a Bombay classic. And one of Gymkhana’s great dishes too, where they add brain if you so desire. Which I always do. 

The soft bun is toasted, slathered with butter, and you stuff it with this darkly delightful mince, which has an astonishing depth of meaty flavour and the merest bleat of goat. Sublime, just like the veggie version, pav bhaji, which I would happily eat every day. 

Again, there’s no faffing around with silly plates or half-a***d ‘reimagining’, just spot-on Indian street food with all the charm and grunt and soul of the real thing.

Then we move down south for immaculate Masala dosa, which has just the right amount of chew, tan and crisp, frilly edges and more of that spiced potato inside. 

Rip, dip (in a mustard seed-speckled tomato chutney, and a rather more fierce chilli and lentil dip) and munch. 

India is quickly becoming my new culinary hobby horse. I spent a few months there as a sallow youth and returned frequently. Then, for some reason, I stopped. But over the past year I’ve have fallen back in lust

India is quickly becoming my new culinary hobby horse. I spent a few months there as a sallow youth and returned frequently. Then, for some reason, I stopped. But over the past year I’ve have fallen back in lust

The same goes for the Madurai dosa, where the semolina batter is packed with onions and has that same mix of delicacy and easy comfort. 

All this sounds like a greedy feast but it’s sharing food, proper sharing food, and blessedly light. 

Miles removed from those soporifically belly-busting curries from the local Star of India.

Indian Tiffin Room 

2 Isabella Banks Street, Manchester

M15 4RL, indiantiffinroom.com

★★★★

In fact, the only disappointment is the Indo-Chinese food, traditionally cooked by Tibetan refugees or by a tiny Chinese community in Calcutta. Sichuan noodles are sweetly inoffensive. 

In fact, far superior to the ones I’ve eaten up in Manali, in Himachal Pradesh, and in Leh, Ladakh. 

Still, compared to what came before, they’re merely decent late-night booze food. 

A chilli chicken dish is a touch more exciting, deep fried and sticky. Though it’s hard to taste the Indian spicing. Puddings are suitably syrupy. At night the menu is far broader, with endless curries and kebabs. I have no doubt they’ll be mighty.

India is quickly becoming my new culinary hobby horse. I spent a few months there as a sallow youth and returned frequently. 

Then, for some reason, I stopped. But over the past year I’ve been a few times and have fallen back in lust. 

With the likes of Gymkhana, Darjeeling Express (please tell me Asma Khan has found a permanent site) and Kricket in London, we are at long last getting a true regional taste of this mighty subcontinent. 

And with Indian Tiffin Room I have yet another excuse, as if I ever needed one, to come back to Manchester, capital of the universe and beyond.

Lunch for two, minus drinks: £40


FOUR MORE TO TRY

Cracking street food

 

BRISTOL EATS

BRISTOL  

bristoleats.co.uk 

You’ll find all manner of al-fresco magic at these street food masters. Gopal’s Curry Shack, The Pickled Brisket and American kitchen. Every second and fourth Thursday. 

 

JANETIRA

LONDON  

jane-tira.co.uk 

Classic Thai street food with rough edges kept intact. Don’t miss the fish gut curry from the south. It’s hot, hot, hot. 

 

BABU BOMBAY STREET KITCHEN

GLASGOW  

babu-kitchen.com 

It started life as a stall and now has a permanent home. Big flavours – and don’t miss the keema pau in a fine Scottish bap

It started life as a stall and now has a permanent home. Big flavours – and don’t miss the keema pau in a fine Scottish bap

 

DINERAMA

LONDON  

streetfeastlondon.com 

OK, so I’m a shareholder in the place. And therefore biased. But hot damn, get to this huge street food temple, try out the Breddos tacos, barbecue lab and Smokestak – and tell me they don’t thrill every sense. 

 

LOCAL HERO

Green Saffron are true spice masters, seeking out the freshest, finest from across the globe. And you’ll find everything from cumin and Kashmiri chilli flakes to ready blended mixes for chana and garam masala. greensaffron.com 

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