PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAExpect the unexpected at what we know as the Spice Kitchen. Cheeky ingredients gather to catch you by surprise on the menu – have you searching your dining memory for ever having encountered such Indian curiosities. Fun is on the cards when you are seated with a Lotus Position (vodka, lime, sugar and black salt), your friend is stroking a chocolate tiger (Absolut vanilla, Tia Maria and Frangelico), and your partner has summoned Bollywood Dancers (Kahlua, Baileys, Frangelico, crème de cacao, honey, cream and Maltesers!)
“Sweet ‘n’ crunchy” come pappadam cones filled with spiced chickpeas and rice bubbles; spinach naan is served with prawn, eggplant and potato relishes, and piri piri mushrooms with crushed chilli and whisky infused spices. The “Best of British” procures onions bhajees and chicken tikka masala, while sago pancakes present themselves with carrot chutney, dark green coriander, mint and garlic “mud”. “Touch me not” baby goat kofta sounds challenging but another dish plays even harder to get. From the royal kitchens of the Persian Mughals – da, dah, daah - comes the restaurant’s signature dish - Murgh Mussalam – a free range chook stuffed with 17 spices and 36 (I’m guessing secret) ingredients. Said chicken is marinated and roasted for over 36 hours. Hot stuff. For what promises to be the Rolls Royce of roast chooks you must order two days in advance.
Ragini understands the personality of her spices intimately, their flavour and effect, and this underpins her cooking. Her own spice mix range is available for home cooks, and in Norwood you will find “Street Food by SK”, A Spice Kitchen shoot off providing “gutsy, fresh, fragrant food” for those wanting to take her award winning flavours away.
Roz Taylor