Choosing a dish at an Indian restaurant can be difficult, especially when the menu is packed with tempting options.
That decision could now become slightly easier after a leading chef shared the dishes he would think twice about ordering. His advice may disappoint fans of biryani, lamb and onion bhajis.
Chef Sanjay Gour, co-founder of south London modern Indian restaurant KOKUM, told the Daily Mail that he is immediately wary of restaurants offering “absolutely huge menus”.
“No kitchen can specialise in absolutely everything,” said the chef, who grew up in Mumbai and later moved to London, where he worked at Michelin-starred restaurants including Murano by Angela Hartnett.
According to Gour, the drawback of an oversized menu is that dishes may not receive the same level of care, preparation or freshness.
From curries offering every type of meat to brightly coloured chicken tikka, these are the popular-sounding choices Sanjay believes could leave diners disappointed.
Choosing a dish at an Indian restaurant can be difficult, with so many tempting options on the menu
1. I’d never order neon-red chicken tikka
“If chicken tikka arrives looking almost fluorescent red, alarm bells start ringing for me,” chef Sanjay explained. “Good tikka does not need colour alone to make it look appealing.
“I want to see chicken that has been properly marinated, remains tender inside and has slightly blackened, smoky edges from the heat of the tandoor.
“The spices, chilli and marinade will naturally add colour, but it should not look as though it has been covered in red food colouring. For me, flavour and char matter much more than an intensely bright appearance.”
2. I’m suspicious of restaurants with huge menus
The chef also urged diners to be cautious when faced with menus running across pages and covering every possible curry, biryani, grilled dish, seafood option and regional speciality.
“No kitchen can specialise in absolutely everything. The larger the menu, the more preparation is required, making it harder to believe that every dish is being made with the same care and freshness.
“I would much rather visit somewhere with a thoughtfully selected menu and order the dishes the restaurant is genuinely known for.”
3. I’d never order a vindaloo advertised as the hottest curry
Vindaloo is another dish Gour says diners should approach with caution. “Vindaloo has somehow become shorthand for ‘make me the hottest curry you possibly can’, but that completely misses the point of the dish,” he said.
“A good vindaloo should combine acidity, garlic, spice and depth with its heat. You should still be able to taste the food itself.
“If a menu boasts that its vindaloo is ridiculously hot or challenges customers to finish it, I would probably avoid it. Chilli should add flavour, not turn the meal into a punishment.”
4. I wouldn’t order a biryani that looks like curry mixed into rice
Gour said diners can often spot when a biryani has not been prepared properly. “It should not simply be rice, a spoonful of curry and streaks of brightly coloured grains mixed together.
“A good biryani takes time. The meat or vegetables, rice, spices and aromatics should complement one another, and opening the dish should release an immediate, enticing fragrance.
“The grains should remain separate, while the flavour should run throughout the dish. It is a meal where shortcuts are particularly easy to detect.”
5. I’d avoid a naan that’s completely pale and flat
When naan is cooked inside a properly heated tandoor, it should not appear perfectly uniform, revealed the KOKUM co-founder.
MUST READ: LA Times Owner’s Daughter Livid Over Israeli Tourism Ad in Paper
‘I want bubbles, blistering, charred patches and those slightly crisp edges alongside the softer centre. That’s where so much of the flavour comes from.
‘If a naan arrives completely flat, pale and identical all over, I’d start wondering whether it has actually been cooked fresh or whether it has been bought in and reheated. Naan is so much better when it goes straight from the tandoor to your table.’
6. I’d never order chaat if I knew it was going to spend half an hour in a delivery bag
‘I love chaat, but it is probably one of the worst Indian dishes to order for a long journey home,’ admitted the chef.
‘The whole point of a chaat is the textures and the burst of different flavours that you get just from one bite: something crunchy, something soft, cold yoghurt, and sweet, sour and spicy chutneys all together.
‘Put that into a closed takeaway container for half an hour and all those lovely crisp bits start absorbing the sauces.
‘By the time it reaches you, you’re eating something completely different. I’d always have chaat in the restaurant or eat it immediately.’
7. I’d think twice about fried starters that clearly haven’t just been fried
‘A really good bhaji should be hot, crisp and light when you bite into it. You know immediately when fried food has been sitting around because it starts becoming heavy, oily and soft,’ revealed the expert.
‘Fried snacks are simple food, but that means there’s nowhere to hide. If they don’t taste freshly cooked, I’d rather order something else than have something that was fried earlier and reheated.’
8. I’m wary when every curry lets you choose ‘chicken, lamb, prawns or vegetables’
Sanjay said: ‘When I see the same curry listed with a drop-down choice of chicken, lamb, prawns or vegetables, I start questioning how that dish is being cooked.
‘It can suggest that there is a big batch of sauce already made and your chosen protein is simply being added into it afterwards.
‘That doesn’t automatically mean the food will be bad, and restaurants obviously have to do prep, but a lot of Indian cooking is about the ingredient cooking with the spices and gravy. Lamb cooking in a sauce creates a completely different flavour to prawns or chicken.’
9. If a lamb curry is incredibly cheap, I’d want to know why
‘Lamb simply isn’t a cheap ingredient, so if I see a lamb curry being sold at a surprisingly low price, I’m going to question how that price is being achieved,’ insisted Sanjay.
‘What cut is being used? How much lamb is actually in the dish? Is it fresh or previously frozen? Is it British lamb or lower-cost imported meat, such as frozen New Zealand lamb?
‘There’s nothing automatically wrong with imported or frozen lamb, but price and quality have to add up somewhere. Personally, I’d rather pay a little more and know that good-quality meat has gone into the dish.’