Review: Darjeeling Express

Home Comforts in Soho

Methi Chicken, polao and a side salad

I’m glad central London finally has an Indian restaurant like Darjeeling Express. I’ve been eating at various Bengali (read: Bangladeshi) restaurants in the British capital for a while, and most of what I’d recommend is in East London. While many of these places do great food, like Amar Gaon or Dhaka Biryani, they’re small and geared towards casual meals. But Darjeeling Express is a fully-fledged restaurant, and somewhere I could go if I needed a smarter dinner venue. Even better is the fact that I wouldn’t be making any compromises on the food - the kitchen here produces amazing Bengali (and other Indian) dishes, despite its trendy Carnaby Street location. 

Sweets From Meherpur

গুড়ের সন্দেশ
Goorer Shondesh

Goorer shondesh - baked and slightly caramelised on top

Shondesh has been such a staple in my life. During my childhood in Dhaka, Nani would provide a steady supply from her favourite sweet shop in Meherpur, couriered over on a semi-regular basis. If it wasn't her, it would be my dad or uncle bringing some back from their trips to the countryside. Unfailingly, each would point out that shondesh made in their hometown was the best. Shondesh keeps well in the fridge, so even after a week we'd be digging some out to have with tea. As a voracious and indiscriminate eater, shondesh was just another sweet I stuffed myself with, but I do remember it being a favourite of my brother's - the picky eater in the family. 

Shondesh comes in a few different forms, but basically it's yet another curd-based Bangladeshi dessert. If you're unfamiliar, imagine something a little like halwa, but softer and creamier. Making it involves sweetening and cooking curd on the hub, an easier process than cooking roshogolla or golap jaam. There are slight variations: you can sweeten the curd using sugar or goor, and you can opt to use spices or not. I prefer a version very lightly spiced with cardamom and sweetened with goor. The bones of this recipe comes from a friend's mom, who recommended that I just mix all the ingredients together before popping them into the oven. She served me a version of this one Eid, and I loved it, so I've now adopted her recipe. 

The egg listed in the ingredients below is very non-traditional - the result of her experimentation with texture and consistency. I've kept it in because I quite like the resulting squidginess. Baking gives the top of the shondesh a slight caramelisation, in case you're into that kind of thing (I am). Make this in the right dish and you can serve it as is, rather than chopping it up into smaller pieces (which is traditional). Shondesh can be eaten as a dessert after a larger meal, but more usually in my family it was reserved for tea time snacking. 

An Aloo Bhorta Substitute

Cumin & Chive Mashed Potato Bake

Fresh out of the oven, sans cheddar this time though

I've never been able to roast potatoes properly, hence this dish. I needed to serve potatoes in some way alongside roast meats and fish, and so I gravitated towards a potato bake. I know there are many luxurious versions with milk, butter etc. around, but I've avoided these in favour of something that isn't too unhealthy. Chives and potato are a classic combo, and I've incorporated cumin here as it's a favourite flavour of mine. The beaten egg gives the dish a bit of lightness. Truth be told, this is also my substitute to the traditional Bangladeshi aloo bhorta - especially as I can't get the right kind of dried chilli or mustard oil where I live right now. The amount below serves 4 as part of a main meal.

Ingredients:

• 300.00 g potatoes
• 1.00 teaspoon of powdered cumin
• 1.00 tablespoon of dried chives
• 1.00 tomato
• 1.00 egg
• Salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Cheddar to crumble, as desired

Method:

• Bring a saucepan full of water to boil. Cut the potatoes into cubes, and add to the saucepan along with a little salt. Cook until soft, around 20 minutes
• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
• While the potatoes are boiling, halve the tomato and slice into thin slivers
• Beat the egg
• Once the potatoes have boiled, run them under cold water so that they cool enough to add the egg without cooking it
• Mash the potatoes, adding the tomato, cumin and chives
• Season as desired with salt and pepper, then mix in the egg
• Transfer the potato to an ovenproof dish, then top generously with crumbled cheddar
• Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and take out of the oven

Bangla-Chinese Experimentation

Chicken & Naga Pickle Stir-Fry

Steamed rice with chicken & naga pickle stir-fry

I've relied on stir-fries for relatively healthy meals ever since university, though I've graduated from readymade sauces by now. This is a very simple stir-fry that I sometimes cook on weekdays, albeit with a slight twist - naga pickle. Usually, I stir-fry my chicken with a little garlic before adding soya and oyster sauce, followed by various veggies. I'm a big fan of naga pickle, and so one day I made the decision to marinade chicken in this before cooking. I knew I'd like it...so I'm not sure I should be calling it experimentation! However, the flavour (and the kick!) here is quite strong, so it won't be for everyone. The recipe below serves two generously.

Ingredients:

• 400.00 g boneless chicken breast or thigh
• 1.00 teaspoon of garlic, crushed
• 1.00 teaspoon of ginger, shredded
• 2.00 tablespoons cornflour
• 1.00 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1.00 tablespoon naga pickle and oil
• 1.00 carrot
• 80.00 g of asparagus tips
• 80.00 g of sprouting broccoli (or just broccoli)
• 7 or 8 mushrooms
• 1.50 tablespoon soya sauce
• 1.50 tablespoon oyster sauce
• Spring onion, to taste
• Sesame seeds, to taste

Method:

• Cut the chicken into cubes. Mix with the sesame oil, naga pickle, cornflour, garlic, ginger and leave to marinate while preparing the vegetables
• Slice the mushrooms into slivers, shave the carrot into thin strips using a peeler and cut the broccoli into bite size pieces. Leave the asparagus alone apart from cutting off any stringy, older parts
• Heat a frying pan on the stove, then add the chicken. On medium heat, fry for 8 minutes, adding a little water if the cornflour starts to stick (this will be unnecessary if your chicken is sold with a high water content)
• While the chicken is cooking, toast the sesame seeds in a small pan without oil, until they begin to brown. Take off the heat and set aside
• Turning back to the chicken, add the soya and oyster sauces along with a little water, then cover and cook for 2 minutes on medium low heat
• Lift the cover, and deglaze with a little water if necessary 
• Add the vegetables, then cover and cook for a further 4 minutes
• While the vegetables are cooking, slice the spring onion into little pieces
• Take the dish off the heat, and serve sprinkled with the toasted sesame seeds and spring onion

Additional Info

Feel free with switch up the sauces (try mirin or fish sauce) and of course, the vegetables. I've only cooked them for 4 minutes because I like them quite crunchy, but leave them on the stove longer if you want. Naga pickle is available to buy at most South Asian stores in the UK. It's sold in small jars, and can be mixed into dips or served as a side during meals.

The Best Biriyanis in Aberdeen

All lined up for Biriyani Club!

A dish of fragrant rice cooked with spiced meat, biriyani is an old favourite of mine. In our family, it has always been celebration food. We usually buy biriyani from any one of Dhaka's numerous biriyani houses, or less commonly cook it - and I've posted my mom's recipe on the blog already. It's something I often order while eating out  in the UK, and a friend suggested collating my experiences for Aberdeen in one post. Something short and snappy - useful for folks who don't want to read long, in-depth reviews. 

I've been doing an informal biriyani tour of the town for a while anyway, so this post has an easy, happy challenge! I've stuck to some hard and fast rules throughout the process (see the footnotes at the bottom). This will be a live post, and I will be updating and reposting it as I eat at more restaurants. Hopefully old names will drop off and new names will appear. I don't know how many venues I'll list when I'm done...but I'm aiming for the top 5 right now. I will mostly limit myself to writing about biriyani here, rather than diverging into fuller reviews. Also, a big thank you to my long-suffering friends, who have often waited patiently as I photographed everyone's food :)