"India Cookbook": Book Launch at Moti Mahal, Covent Garden

Sometimes I think about going to India to do one of those serene looking yoga courses by the ocean. It would have to be one with clean toilets and nice views, where everyone is decked out in the latest Sweaty Betty gear and has the afternoon off to lie in a hammock. I can do downward dogs and pigeon pose with the best of them, possibly even at sunrise. But I'm fairly certain I'd fail at the first yogi hurdle (the vegetarian one) as soon as I caught the whiff of a tender piece of chicken being plucked from a tandoor.

I suppose if there's one place to have a superb vegetarian diet, it's in India - so many chutneys, mangos, pickles, spice to distract you from the huge, gaping void on your plate. But then the yogi people probably wouldn't let me have a glass of wine with it, and now the dream's all falling apart before my eyes. Anyhoo...

Phaidon Press has recently published the "India Cookbook", a compilation of 1000 recipes, by food writer Pushpesh Pant.

Featuring some beautiful photography and a clear, simple layout, the book had me pining for a trip to India before I was even through the introduction - a walk through the rich history of Indian food and the culinary influences in the various regions contributing to India's food culture.

From spice mixtures and pastes (try an aromatic garam masala or fried onion paste),  pickles, chutneys and raitas (like the Egyptian lentil chutney or raw mango pickle) through to more substantial dishes (ginger flavoured chops, dry spicy pumpkin and fish biryani), desserts and drinks - this book has it covered. The signature dishes of some guest Indian chefs are included at the back. My only quibble is that it might be nice to see the beautiful photos next to the relevant recipe rather than in glossy, colour sections scattered throughout the book. However the snaps are cross referenced, and I suppose each approach has its pros and cons.

I recently attended the book launch at Moti Mahal in Covent Garden where chef Anirudh Arora not only tried to sell our small cookery "masterclass" group a tandoor larger than my kitchen, but also brought his adaptations of the recipes to life with some fine Indian cooking. Anirudh has an impressive background, having cooked for India's Prime Minister at the age of 25 and heading up the Udaimahal restaurant in India in 2002.

Anirudh Arora preparing the marinated
guinea fowl for the tandoor

One of my favourite dishes was the tandoor grilled guinea fowl which had been the subject of a short masterclass in the kitchen - adapted from the recipe for Tandoori Murg (chicken) in India Cookbook.

Tandoori guinea fowl - others worked on the
gorgeous, spicy paturee (crab and tiger prawn cakes wrapped
in banana leaves) which was another of my favourites.

The first marinade consists of ginger, garlic, chilli, lemon juice and salt (Anirudh adds malt vinegar) which is rubbed on and left for an hour. A further marinade is then applied - a mix of yoghurt, ginger, garlic, fenugreek, vegetable oil and garam masala (Anirudh makes his own garam masala, and there's a recipe in the book, although you might cheat here with a commercial brand). The guinea fowl (or chicken) lolls about in half the mix for 2-3 hours before roasting in the hot tandoor or a charcoal grill for 12-15 minutes - or in the oven for 1 - 1.5 hours. Half way through the remaining marinade is applied.

After hanging for 2-3 minutes to drain out any excess moisture, the bird is basted with melted butter and roasted again for 5-7 minutes. And voila - a gorgeous, succulent, spicy starter. Fantastic stuff.

Here are some of my other favourites from the night, served family style:

Bhalla papdi chaat - chickpeas, fried pastry,
yoghurt, tamarind & mint chutney - lovely flavours
& contrasting textures

Clockwise from top left: Slow cooked black lentils (less memorable,
perhaps could have done with more oomph);
crispy, stir fried lotus roots with peanut & coriander (excellent);
a refreshing raita (cucumber & yoghurt)

Chicken biryani with spinach & fenugreek

A thick, hearty stewed lamb with spinach & dill)

Moti Mahal does have a sleek, slightly sterile, corporate air about the room. It's the type of place where you drink fancy cocktails (and delicious, Indian spiced ones I might add) with your curry. But scratch beneath that service and there's some good quality cooking coming out of the kitchen. Prices are steeper than your average local Indian - around £12-£20 for main courses. I would bank on spending £35-£55 per head. Indian cookery classes and cocktail masterclasses are available at the restaurant - see the website for details.

"India Cookbook" by Pushpesh Pant is available for RRP £29.95.

Moti Mahal, 45 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, WC2B 5AA

Greedy Diva was a guest of Moti Mahal and received a review copy of India Cookbook from Phaidon.

Dishoom, Covent Garden

Dishoom is the new "Bombay Cafe" receiving quite a lot of love in Covent Garden right now.

The concept is fresh and nostalgic all at once. The London incarnation is inspired by the grand old cafes of Mumbai, opened by Persian immigrants in the early 20th century. They which numbered in the hundreds by the 1960s but have since all but disappeared.

I love the big, brasserie style room immediately. It's all high ceilings, huge windows, marble topped tables, dark wood and walls cluttered with vintage posters, photos, newspaper clippings and mirrors. It's buzzy, friendly, and manages to retain its charm while clearly being positioned for a potential roll out.

There's no queue when we arrive early at 7.15pm on a Friday night and are informed (in the nicest possible way) we'll need to vacate in an hour and a half if anyone's waiting. Within half an hour there's a Busaba-like queue snailing down the street. The word is out.

And fair enough too. There's good stuff here.

A small pot of Pau Bhaji arrives first - mashed veg with hot buttered bread (£3.90). Having a touch of l'essence de baby food about it, it's a tad bland and monotonous. Not a flying start but "nice" enough. Surprisingly, this was one of the recommendations of our attentive waitress. (Potentially over-attentive service seems have to settled down since early reports.)

But things pick up from here with a series of fresh, lively and spicy plates that leave us happily full and smiling from the inside out.

The murgh malai is a generous serving of marinated, charcoal grilled chicken (£6.50). The spicing is mild but definite, and the knobbly chunks of chicken are nicely charred and delightfully succulent.

A plate of large, meaty grilled masala prawns is also appealing - with lime, tomato and fresh coriander (£8.20), the only problem is there's 5 to share between 2 of us which always results in an arm wrestle in our family.

Our lamb biryani is the best I've had in a long time - it comes in a clay pot, sealed in the traditional way with a ring of dough. It's aromatic and spicy, and the basmati rice is wonderfully moist but crispy around the edges. Its downfall is the slight toughness of the lamb, which had a lovely flavour but could have been more tender.

We watched our roomali roti (£1.70) being stretched and cooked over the hot dome in the open kitchen. It was lovely and light, and accompanied by an essential cooling serve of raita (yoghurt, fresh cucumber and mint, £1.90).

This was enough food to sink us - two "healthy eaters" - such that we even skipped dessert. But, there are a plethora of other interesting morsels to go back for - small and large plates (fish fingers, calamari, chilli cheese toast....), salads, roomali rolls, shorba (soups), grilled everythings (lamb chops, dill salmon tikka, paneer and mushroom...), chicken berry or vegetable biryanis, black daal, and a house meat or vegie curry of the day.

The tipples are equally enticing. I started with the house punch which was a fun mix of fruit juice, coconut, rum and Darjeeling tea (£4.90). The Peanut Gallery's Bombalada was a mix of pineapple, coconut, milk, rum, herbs and spice (£5.90). Both were highly enjoyable but a little light on the rum. I wonder if they do doubles...?

The Meantime Union dark beer (£3.90) was a great match with the food. The rose and cardamom lassi also sounds tempting (£3.20).

This is a happy place, with good quality, fresh food. It's not perfect - but I suppose no hectic "Bombay cafe" should be. It's reasonably priced, ringing in at £25 per head for us with drinks (plus service).

I'm itching to go back to try the breakfast menu - the traditional Bombay cafes never closed so this is a dawn til dusk type operation. I imagine it would be a superb place to sit back and read the paper over a sweet cup of chai and "the Full Bombay".

Sure, it's already popular, but you can't help but wish them well.

Dishoom, 12 Upper St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9FB 

Open 8am-11pm Monday-Friday; 10am-11pm Saturday; 10am-10pm Sunday (no reservations)

Mooli's: Soho, London

I have made my thoughts on the burrito clear. Bah, humbug. I have, despondently, hung up my sombrero. But the time has come to cast my greedy eye over the latest London street food craze - the "mooli" of Mooli's.

A mooli was a giant Japanese radish. Now, on the streets of Soho at least, it is an Indian roti wrap housing a range of meats or vegetables with Indian spices, salad and chutneys. Mooli's sells 6 different types of moolis (the wrap type, not the radish type) - chicken, asparagus, paneer, beef, pork and now goat. I slowly but surely got myself on the case.

I was the first in the door one mid week lunchtime (lunch before 12pm, anyone?), and was greeted by the genuine happy and helpful friendliness for which Mooli's is already developing quite the reputation. The man, who I later found out to be Sam, guided me through a few moments of scatty indecision (beef or pork, beef or pork?) by suggesting I kick off my Mooli experience with the beef variety. Done.

While the beef mooli is normally £3.95, I upsized to the mooli madness meal (my term, in case of doubt) for £5 - mooli, lassi and a bag of roasted poppadoms with a tub of spicy tomato sauce.

The roti is doughey and warm, while the Keralan beef is braised with a subtle hit of southern Indian (Malabar) spices and coconut, and topped with green salad and a cucumber raita (seasoned yoghurt sauce). The beef is lovely - tasty and tender. Although the spices are demure and some might prefer them spiced up somewhat, they add a definite flavour. The meat is, however, a tad scanty and I almost had to go back for a second.

The Goan pork mooli is, apparently, a spicier option and I certainly enjoyed my beef mooli enough to be looking forward to a return visit to try this one out.

The roasted poppadoms were fine - neither here nor there for me - but the lassi was excellent - big on mango fruitiness, tangy, thick and creamy, just as a lassi should be.

I returned again this week to take away a goat mooli, which I ate sitting in the Springtime sunshine at Soho Square, dodging randomly falling bird poo and stray drug addicts in the process. The goat mooli was much bigger and meatier than its little beef brother. At £5, it costs a bit more, but dealt a swift knock out blow to any hunger pangs.

Big chunks of tender goat meat (again, braised over several hours) were at times overflowing among the mix of roast vegetables and tasty spices. There may have been one too many chunks of potato and bits of chopped red onion, but all in all the goat mooli is a fine addition to your eating-on-the-hoof options in Soho. It's a full Indian meal, cooked nicely, wrapped up in a warm roti blanket. I like it.

The Mooli's fit out is bright and basic - it's more a fast food joint than anything else, but food is made fresh and, it seems, with pride. If it comes down to a burrito or a mooli, make mine a mooli. Over and out.

Mooli's, 50 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4