Itihaas Birmingham

Itihaas won the award for Best Restaurant in the Midlands and the top award of Best in the UK in the 2007 Good Curry Guide. The visit of the Red Dwarf and family to the UK was therefore a good excuse to give it a try. Dosas, Indian Lamb Chops and Carrot Cake were all excellent as was the smoked aubergine veggy option.

Service was a little slow but the Indian music piped through the sound system was very good for once.

Curry Fever Leicester

Another visit to Leicester, another trip to Curry Fever.

As usual the Fever's signature dishes of Jeera Chicken, Pili Pili Chicken Masala and Kenyan chicken waranted their normal 11 out of 10 ratings on the taste front. Unfortunately though the Flute Cafe is now sourced from a dfferent supplier in Italy and is now a pale shadow of its former glory. Still an excellent meal though, in the best Indian restaurant in Leicester and one of the finest in the Midlands.

Roast Chicken

There is nothing better in the world of food than a simple dish cooked simply with the best quality ingredients. A good Carbonarra made with the best Pancetta and free range eggs. or a homely roast chicken. Last night I got a craving for roast chicken and so turned to Simon Hopkinson and Lindsay Bareham's excellent cookery book Roast Chicken and Other Stories. The title dish of this book is of the best ways of roasting a chicken I've come across. Simple to cook, but tasty in the extreme

Ingredients

1.8kg (4lb) free range chicken
110g/4oz butter at room temperature
Salt (preferably Maldon Sea Salt) & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 lemon
A couple of sprigs of thyme, tarrogon or a mixture of the two
1 crushed clove of Garlic

Cooking

• Preheat the oven to 230 degrees C (450 F, Gas Mark 8)

• Cover the bird with butter and put it in a genrous sized roasting tin

• Season with the salt and pepper

• Halve the lemon and squeeze  juice over the bird

• Stuff the bird with the herbs, garlic and lemon halves

• Roast the chicken initially for 15 minutes at the high temperature

• Baste then reduce the temperature to 190 degress C (375 F, Gas Mark 5) and roast for about another 45 minutes, basting occaisionally. N.B. To ensure that the bird is cooked, insert a skewer or knife and press on the flesh. If the juices released are clear it is cooked, if they are red or pinkish in colour then continue cooking.

• Rest the roast bird for at least 15 minutes prior to carving to let the juices settle.

As it cooks your house will slowly fill with the fragrence of lemon and herbs which should get the mouth watering. The juices left in the pan, infused with the taste of lemon, garlic and the herbs, will make an excellent gravy for your bird. A variation popular in Italy is to 'wet roast' the bird by adding a little wine, chicken stock or water to the tin before roasting. This sauce can be further suplemented with the adition of mushrooms (porcini would be great), tomatoes, additional herbs, diced bacon, cream, spices  (both saffron and ginger go well) or anything else you can think of.

If Sherlock Holmes was asked by his sidekick, why this dish tastes so good, he'd probably say "A lemon entry my dear Watson".

Teriyaki Sauce

Teriyaki no Tare

Teriyak is the name of a grilling technique. Teri means glossy and yaki translates to grilling. The original version of teriyake no tare yaki no tare (teriyaki basting sauce) contained only shoyu (soy sauce), mirin (sweet cooking wine) and sometimes sugar.

Why use the sickly substance that passes for teriyaki sauce on supermarket shelves, when it is so easy to make the real McCoy yourself.

To make it you will need: -

Ingredients
200ml (1 cup) Mirin (sweet cooking wine)
100ml (1/2 cup) Shoyu (Soy Sauce)
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp Caster Sugar

Preperation

• Add the mirin to a pan and heat over a low heat for 1-2 minutes.

• Add the soy and sugar and simmer for another couple of minutes.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

Variations

For variation you can add other seasoning to your sauce. Honey, grated ginger, grated garlic , chopped scallions, fruit juice, fresh or dried chilli or chilli bean sauce (toban jiang). Experiment to make your own signature teriyaki sauces.

Here's another varient that also includes sake (rice wine).

Ingredients

100ml (1/2 cup) Mirin (sweet cooking wine)
50ml (1/4 cup) Sake (Rice Wine)
50ml (1/4 cup) Shoyu (Soy Sauce)
2 tbsp Sugar

Preparation

• Heat the Mirin & Sake in a small saucepan over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

• Add the Shoyu & Sugar, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

• Simmer over a low heat for 25 minutes.

• Let the sauce cool.It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

So go ahead and make your teriyake. And remember, the baste is yet to come.

Japanese Store Cupboard

The following is a list of basic Japanese cooking ingredients that you should have in your store cupboard if you intend to any Japanese Cooking. If you don't have a local Japanese foodstore (highly likely in the UK unless you live in London) you can obtain some from Asia shops. Failing that see the list of websites at the end of this post.




Fish Sauce (nam pla) - Nam Pla is a condiment made from fermented fish.

Hoisin Sauce - Also known as Chinese Barbeque Sauce this is made from fermented soybeans, garlic, vinegar, and chilli peppers.


Mirin - Mirin is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with less alcohol. It has a slightly sweet taste.


Miso - Miso is made by fermenting rice, barley and/or soybeans, with salt and the mold kojikin (usually miso is made with soy). It is generally a thick paste and when combined with Dashi stock forms the basis of Miso Soup.



There are many different varieties of miso, ranging in flavour from salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savoury. Common varieties include: -

• Red (akamiso)
• White (shiromiso)
• Medium (awase miso)
• Sweet (saikyo miso)
  

Rice Vinegar - Rice vinegar is made from fermented rice or rice wine. Other than in Japan it is also made in China and Korea.

Sake - Sake is a Japanese rice wine

Soy Sauce - Soya sauce is a fermented sauce made from soya beans, roasted grain, water and salt. Two varieties are normally sold, light and the stronger dark. With the Chinese varieties the light is often called Superior Soy and the dark Soy Superior.

Shichimi - Shichimi, a.k.a. Seven-Spice Powder, a Japanese spice mixture made of a magnificent seven (or is that seven samurai?) ingredients.

• round red chili pepper
• Mandarin orange peel
• Sesame Seed
• Poppy Seed
• Hemp Seed
• Nori or Aonori
• Ground Sansho (related to Sichuan pepper)

Shichimi is also known as nanami togarashi outside of Japan.

Tamari - Tamari is, like soy sauce, a dark sauce made from the soybean, but is thicker. It has a mild flavor and is normally used as a table condiment, as a dip, or for basting.

Wasabi - Wasabi is a, blow your head off, condiment made from Horse Radish. Use sparingly with caution.

A Taste of Imli

As Indian restaurants go Imli is a bit different. Specialising in Indian Tapas, Imli has a clean cut modern design with a buzz reminicent of Birmingham's Balti land (Or a very large bee). Imli won the best Indian award in the 2007 Good Curry Guide. See my post on the awards for details of the other winners.

For my meal I opted for A Taste of Imli, an ever changing selection of 4 dishes chosen by the chef that give you a taster of what the restaurant has to offer.

First off two starters, a spicy fish dish, amsitsari fish (batter fried tilapia) served with a mint dip and spiced potato cakes with ginger chilli and tamarind (as an aside Imli in Hindi means Tamarind and the owners also run a Michelin starred restaurant of that name) sauce. Both were excellent, so far so good.

Next a chicken dish, Chicken Dungar (didn't he used to play for Brazil?) with rice. Again very good although the paratha I had on the side could have been a tad crisper.

Finally my palate was cleansed with a superb mango and basil sorbet washed down with some damn fine coffee.

Total damage....£16.

Overall verdict, great food, great price, great restaurant. Will I return? Oh hell yeagh. See you tomorrow night Chris.

:-)

Imli Restaurant
167 Wardour Street, W1
tel: 020 7287 4243
website: www.imli.co.uk

Good Curry Guide 2007

Finally, after more delays than this years Wimbledon, the 2007 edition of Pat Chapman's the Good Curry Guide is out. Hurrah!!!

There's a good deal on it at Amazon.co.uk at the moment, so get it while it's hot.

This years award winners are:-

British Regions
Best in the North Best Indian
Indian Ocean, 83 Stamford Street, E Ashton 0161 343 3343

Best in Midlands
Itihaas, 18 Fleet Street, Birmingham, B3 0121 212 3383 Website: http://www.itihaas.co.uk/

Best in Scotland
Ashoka at the Mill
10 Clydeholme Rd, Glasgow G14 0141 576 5123

Best in the South and West
Tamasha
131 Widmore Rd, Bromley, Kent (Gtr London) 020 8460 3240

Best in London
Mint Leaf
Suffolk Place, SW1 020 7839 6673

Best in Wales
Misbah
9 Priory St, Monmouth, NP25 3BR 01600 714940

National Cuisines
Best Bangladeshi
Kutis
37 Oxford Street, Southampton, 023 8022 1585

Best Indian
Imli
167 Wardour Street, W1 020 7287 4243 Website: http://www.imli.co.uk/

Best Nepalese
Monty's
224 South Ealing Rd, W5 020 8560 2619 Website: http://www.montys-restaurant.co.uk/

Best Pakastani
Kinara at Pitt's Cottage, Highstreet, Limpfield Rd, Westerfield, Kent
01959 562125

Best Sri Lankan
Elephant Walk, 98 West End Lane, NW6 020 7328 3308

Miscellaneous
Best Vegetarian
Chai Pani
64 Seymour St, W1 020 8560 2619

Chef of the Year
Stephen Gomes
Cafe Naz Group
E1 Cambridge and Cardiff

Most Welcome Newcomer (Joint Winners)
Moti Mahal
45 Great Queen St, WC2 020 7240 9329
Victoria's India, The Manse, Church St, Longridge, Lancs 01727 785111

Best Oriental Asian UK Restaurant
Orchid Lounge Thai at Jaipur, 1st Floor, 599 Grafton Gate E, Milton
Keynes, Bucks, 01908 669 811

Best European Restaurant
Tandoor Palace
Charanjit Singh, ul. Marszalkowska, 21 Warsaw, 00-825+48228252375

Special Awards
UK Lifetime Achievement Award
Kewal Anand, Brilliant Restaurant
72 Western Rd, Southall, 020 8574 1928

International Lifetime Achievement Award
Satish Arora, Chef Culinaire, Taj Hotels Group
Chef Director, Chef Director of Food Roduction

Best UK Restaurant
Itihaas, 18 Fleet Street, Birmingham, B3 0121 212 3383 Website: http://www.itihaas.co.uk/

I'll post reviews on the ones I get to try out and link to them from this post.

If anyone's eaten in any of them then feel free to leave your comments here.